Yakusoku o Mamoru
by sakura2814
Summary: Chapter 11 is up! Oishi's childhood friend transfers to Seigaku and things start to change. OC. Please R&R.
1. Dreams

This is my FIRST fanfic.  I love reading Prince of Tennis fanfics and realized that there aren't enough straight pairings out there.  I can understand why there are plenty of Shonen Ai/Yaoi (what do you expect from an anime with lots of hot guys and barely any girls? It was bound to happen).  So…since there aren't many good female characters in the series, this story contains an original female character.  I will promise you one thing:  she won't be perfect (aka not a mary sue) Why? Because perfect people don't exist (well…Tezuka does seem perfect, but that's besides the point).  This is a straight fanfic, for it would be nice if one existed for Oishi.  I hope to make this a multi-chapter story (that is if people read it *cross fingers*). 

Update 8/29: Although it said romance/drama, there is also humor/general.  For those that are starting to read, the main character is Oishi w/ the regulars present as well.  I thought I try something different.  Anyways…part 1 ends at chapter 8.  There is now a part 2 being made. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.  

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis/Tenipuri, but Konomi Takeshi does so don't sue me!  I'm just a college student trying to get by XD

Title: Yakusoku o Mamoru (To keep one's promise) 

Part I:  Childhood Promises

Genre:  Romance/Drama

Note:  _italics _mean a dream sequence. Some italics didn't come out so please bear with the error (The beginning and near the end were the dream sequence)

Chapter 1:  Dreams

A young boy sat down on a bench outside a tennis recreational center.  He had arrived early and after taking a quick tour of the area decided to wait around.  The boy was excited and also a little nervous.  This was his first time taking part in a tennis camp. He was lost in thought wondering what sort of kids he would meet that he didn't notice the girl that approached him.

_"Ano…sumimasen" _

_The boy looked up and saw a girl about his age holding a tennis racket.  She had a pair of pigtails and was very cute looking that the boy couldn't help but blush a little._

_"Konnichiwa.  I'm new here and I was wondering if you know which courts the tennis camp is at."_

_"Um… I know where they are." The boy paused then smiled at the girl.  "Since I have to go there also, how about we go together?"_

_"Ah hontou?  Arigatou gozaimasu." The girl said excitedly and bowed politely._

_Both of them started walking towards the courts.  The boy was happy that he finally met up with someone that was going to be at the same tennis camp._

_"Oh I never got your name."_

_"Ah gomen.  My name is Tanaka Reiko, but you can call me Reiko."_

_"Its nice to meet you Reiko.  My name is Oishi Syuichiroh." He blushed a little. "But you can call me Syuichiroh." _

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Seishun Gakuen Middle School Classroom 3-6

"Fuji!" Eiji ran to his seat next to the light-brown haired boy. He was too hyper to tell him the exciting news. "My Nee-san got me a new rare toothpaste this morning!"  Eiji opened his bag and showed him the toothpaste.  It was called Berry Blast, and came with a sticker.  

"That's good to hear Eiji" Fuji said as he smiled back.

The homeroom teacher walked into the classroom. "Alright class settle down. Before I begin, I would like to introduce a transfer student from America that will be joining us."  The teacher motioned for the student to come in.  A girl wearing their uniform walked in. She had bangs that reached her brown eyes and fair skin.  Her long black hair was tied back into a ponytail and she had a smile that was like Fuji's…warm and friendly.  "Her name is Tanaka Reiko and I hope the class will welcome her"

"Ohayou" Reiko bowed politely.  "It's a pleasure meeting you all."

"Hm…She seems like a nice girl." Fuji turned to Eiji. "What do you think?"

"Wah! She's so kawaii!  Do you think she'd like to hear about my new toothpaste?" Eiji got all excited. 

(Fuji w/ a big sweatdrop) 

"Anyways…Tanaka-san, there is an open desk near the back so you can sit over there." The teacher pointed at the desk, which happened to be in front of Eiji's desk.  As she walked towards the desk, she noticed Eiji smiling at her and she smiled back before sitting down.  "Okay class lets begin..."

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

*RING * 

Lunch time came around so all the students left to go to the cafeteria or meet up with friends.

"Hey Tanaka-san." Reiko turned around to see a smiling red-hair boy.  "Since you don't know anyone here, would you like to eat lunch with me and Fuji?"  

"Arigatou. I haven't gotten a chance to meet anyone at this school."

"Well now you have." Eiji realized he never told Reiko his name. "Oh I haven't introduced myself.  I'm Kikumaru Eiji." 

"I'm Fuji Syusuke." Fuji showed his usual smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you guys as well.  You probably already know my name, but you can call me Reiko."  

All three opened their lunches and talked throughout their lunch break.  

"Reiko-san, I noticed in class that you spoke Japanese quite well.  Did you learn it back in America?" Fuji asked curiously.

"Nope.  I was born in Japan but moved to America for some years and just moved back to Japan recently." 

"Eh really? Why did you move to America?  Eiji asked between taking bites of his lunch

"My father was assigned a job that transferred him to America.  Since we didn't know how long he'd be there, he thought it would be better for the whole family to move besides having us split up. " 

"How long have you been living in America before you came back here?" 

"Let's see…I was around 8 when I left.  So it's been about 6 years."

"Eh???" Eiji jumped up "You're only 14?  Well…you do look much younger than most of us."

"Actually I'm 13.  I'll be 14 in a few months.  I started school a year earlier than most kids do which would explain the situation." Reiko took a sip of her juice.  "Anyways…so what do you guys like to do in your spare time?"

Eiji got excited.  "I collect rare toothpastes.  My Nee-san just bought me a new one.  Do you want to take a look at it?"  Eiji searched for it out of his bag while Reiko and Fuji looked on (huge sweatdrops can be seen).  Reiko turned to Fuji. "Um…so how about you Fuji?"  

"I play on the tennis team at this school" Reiko's eyes lit up. "You do? I heard this school has a really good tennis team." Eiji heard what Fuji said and jumped in. "Hey I also play on the tennis team!"  Reiko laughed. "Wow, you guys both play tennis.  I used to play tennis back at my school in America.  Maybe I should tryout for the girl's team."

"Reiko you should try out." Eiji said excitedly. "If you want, we could practice or play a match sometime" Reiko smiled in agreement. "Arigatou Kikumaru-kun. I would really appreciate that" Eiji grinned.  "You can just call me Eiji."  

The bell rang and everyone went off to their next class.  Reiko was already relieved to have met some friends and felt that things would get better from here on.

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

_"Do you really have to go?" The boy said to the girl with sad weary eyes._

"I have no choice.  My dad got transferred to America and my whole family is moving" The girl said back sadly.  

_"How long will it be till you come back?"_

_"My dad doesn't know.  He said it might be for several years, maybe even more."_

"But you can't go.  We've been best friends the last few years.  What will I do without you?" 

_"I don't know what I would do as well" Suddenly, she thought something up. " I know what we could do" She brought her hand up in the shape of a pinky promise. "Remember those goals we made that we still haven't done?  The next time we meet, we each have to fulfill our promises.  That way, as long as we work hard and try our best to achieve them, we'll at least remember each other.  Syu-kun, can you promise me this?"_

_Oishi smiled and nodded his head.  He brought his hand up and completed the pinky promise.  "Lets do our best Rei-chan, for each other."  _

Oishi woke up suddenly.  He noticed it was still dark and looked at his clock.  "2.00am" He muttered.  Oishi laid back in bed and tried to recall the dream that woke him up.  "_Unfulfilled promises_…" He thought.  It's been at least 6 years since he made that promise.  He wondered why these last few days he started having dreams about them.  "Maybe she came back? Nah…it's been too long that I doubt that would happen." Oishi then fluffed his pillow and went back to sleep.  

To be cont. 

(A/N:  I hope you liked the FIRST chapter I ever wrote.  If you want to find out how this story will go, please give a review.  They show that people actually read the story.  No reviews = no one reads = what's the point of writing.  Also, I'm new at this so if something sucks or whatever, I won't know if you don't give reviews.  I welcome all comments/suggestions good or bad.  It gives me motivation.)


	2. A Chance Encounter

(A/N: Thanks to everyone that gave reviews.  Sorry not much was explained in the first chapter, but then again it is the first chapter.  Yes this is going to be a STRAIGHT fanfic.  There are plenty of yaoi/shonen-ai stories with authors that write very well.  I'm just trying to add a story for those that like straight pairings.  My goal for this story is to try something different:  try to stick as close to the characters as possible, so that you can get a feel for the characters.  As for relationships, will it be just an Oishi pairing? Maybe yes, but then again, seems like someone else is interested in her. (ah the confusion arises!) ) 

Disclaimer:  PoT/Tenipuri owned by Konomi Takeshi and I don't own any. 

Chapter 2:  A Chance Encounter

At the Tanaka Residence, Reiko was up early preparing breakfast for her family.

"Otousan, Mika-chan!" Reiko shouted. "Breakfast is ready!"

Reiko's dad and Mika, a girl about 7 years old, came down to the table while Reiko placed breakfast on the table.  

"Ittadakimasu." All three said before starting to eat breakfast.  

"Otousan, why do we have to go to school?  Didn't we just end school back in America?" Mika said in a complaining tone.

"That's because Japanese schools start in April and not September." Her dad replied.  "I know it's suppose to be summer vacation, but please try to adjust" (A/N: If you were wondering, its around June)

"Mika-chan, you aren't the only one who has to go to school.  Let's both try to make the best of it okay?"  Reiko smiled at Mika

"Okay Nee-san" Mika said as she continued to eat breakfast. 

"How is school going for you Reiko? Make any friends?"

Reiko nodded. "Yup!  School doesn't seem too hard.  I made some friends in my homeroom.  Some of the girls let me share their books in class since mine haven't arrived yet.  A few of the guys I ate lunch with play on the school's tennis team.  I haven't gotten around to see how well they play, but they must be good since they said they were regulars.   But so far, I really like this school." Reiko turned to Mika "So how about you Mika-chan? Is school going alright?"

Reiko and Mika both talked while their dad listened.  Both of his daughters were talking cheerfully to each other.  _"They seem much happier.  Perhaps it was a good idea to have moved back." _Their dad thought. 

Reiko looked at the time and noticed it was running late.  She quickly finished breakfast and put her dishes in the sink.  She picked up her bookbag and lunch.

"Otousan, Mika-chan.  I'm heading out now.  Your lunches are on the counter." 

"Nee-san, what's with the tennis racket?" Mika pointed to the tennis racket that Reiko was also carrying.

"Oh, I talked with the girls' tennis coach a few days ago and she said I could try out for the girl's tennis team today.  I might be out late."  

"Reiko, are you sure that's a good idea?" Her dad said with a worried look

"Otousan." Reiko smiled to her dad. "I know you're worried about what happened before.  Besides, the girls may be different.  I might be able to make some friends on the team."  "Ittekimasu" Reiko exclaimed as she left the breakfast area.

"Itterashaii." Both her dad and Mika said.  

As Reiko was about to leave the front door, she took a quick look at a picture near the door and smiled. "Ittekimasu…okaasan" She whispered.  Reiko left the house and walked to school.  

Meanwhile…

At morning tennis practice, the regulars were practicing drills on Courts A and B.  The second and third years were working on their swings on Court C, while the first year members were collecting tennis balls.  Eiji noticed that his doubles partner wasn't very focused.  

"Oishi" Eiji exclaimed. "You really look outta it this morning. Something wrong?"

"I'm fine Eiji.  I had an awkward sleep last night" Oishi yawned. "I've been having some weird dreams lately"

"Eh??  What were they about?  Were you dreaming about a girl?" Eiji snickered

"BAKA! Of course not!" Oishi yelled and turned red.  All of the other members stopped and turned to look at the loud commotion that was caused.  Oishi couldn't help but turn an even brighter red.  "Sorry about that everyone" Oishi went back to doing drills pretending that nothing happened.  

Still, Oishi couldn't focus well.  This entire week he's been having a series of dreams.  Last night's dream woke him up in a cold sweat.  That dream was an "incident" that he had blocked out and tried to forget for many years.  Even when he tried to go back to sleep he couldn't.  _"Maybe I should go to the doctor and find out what's wrong with me" _Oishi thought 

"Oishi! Watch Out!"  Oishi looked but it was too late.  

SMACK

A tennis ball smacked him in the head and he fell to the ground.  

"Oishi!" Kawamura exclaimed as he rushed over from the other side of the court. "Sorry for hitting you.  Are you alright?" Oishi rub his head and got up "Its alright Taka, it was my fault for not paying attention" 

"Do you want to visit the nurse?" Inui asked.  "I'm fine.  Please don't worry over me." Oishi told everyone.  

"Hsss….." Kaidoh said "He should be more careful or…" 

SMACK

Kaidoh got hit in the face with a tennis ball 

"Yare Yare" Momo exclaimed. "You have to pay attention mamushi!"

"Stupid powerhouse! You did that on purpose!" Kaidoh yelled back.  

"It's gonna be one of those days" Echizen thought.

Eventually practice did resume.

"Minna!" Tezuka yelled a little while later. "Morning practice is dismissed!" Everyone went back to the clubroom to get changed for school.

"Oishi" Tezuka said in his usual cold voice as he saw Oishi walk by him.  "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Tezuka.  My mind has been wandering" Oishi said as he apologized again. "By the way, I'll be at practice this afternoon a little late.  I have some papers I need to take care of with the class rep."  Oishi walked to the clubroom with everyone else and changed to go to class.

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

The rest of the day passed by quickly.  The school bell ran and all the students left to go home or to club activities.  

"Reiko-chan!" Eiji exclaimed.  "You want to walk with us to the tennis courts since you have to go there?"

"Arigatou" Reiko said to Eiji "Sorry but I have to meet with the teachers and pick up my books since they came in today.  Perhaps some other day okay?" 

"No problem. See you later then" Eiji waved to Reiko. "Lets go Fuji" Eiji and Fuji left to go to the tennis courts.  

"Reiko is quite an interesting girl." Fuji said as they walked down the hall.

"Eh? You think so as well? She's so kawaii and cheerful. I like talking with her"

Fuji nodded "Yes.  She's quite cheerful" Fuji then lowered his voice "_but she's hiding something_"

"Hm? What did you say?" Eiji asked in confusion.

"Oh nothing" Fuji smiled pretending he didn't say anything of importance.

"Oh I see.  I hope she makes the tennis team."

"I'm sure she will.  I have a feeling."  

Meanwhile, Reiko left the classroom and meet with various teachers to pick up books for all her classes.  She went back to the classroom to put her books away.  As sad as it may sound, she really should have taken Eiji's offer because she never been to the tennis courts before.  

 "Crap" Reiko thought.  She looked out the window but didn't see the tennis courts on that side.  She could run around the school, but the school was pretty huge and she thought she might get even more lost.  "Stay calm" Reiko whispered to herself.  She came out of her classroom and thought her best bet would be to ask someone that was still around.  Reiko noticed a guy down the hall that was leaving his classroom.  She noticed he was carrying a tennis bag.  "What luck!" Reiko thought excitedly as she walked up to him.  

"Ano…sumimasen" Reiki said to the guy she saw (which just happened to be Oishi).  

Oishi looked and saw a girl carrying a bookbag and a tennis racket.  Oishi noticed how cute she looked and couldn't help but blush a little.

"Konnichiwa" Reiko said to Oishi "I'm new here and I was wondering if you know which courts the girls tennis club is at"  

"Um…I know where they are" Oishi then realized he had to go to the tennis courts. (A/N: poor guy can't focus). "Since all the courts are near, how about we go together?"  

"Hontou?  Arigatou gozaimasu" Reiko bowed politely.  

Oishi suddenly felt this weird feeling inside of him.  He wasn't sure what it was, but for some strange reason, it was as if he felt he had a similar conversation like this before.  Oishi just stood there with a confused look wondering where and when.

"Um…is something wrong?" Reiko said with a puzzled look.

Oishi snapped back to reality. "Gomen, my mind has been wandering recently."  Oishi realized he didn't know her name.  "Oh I never got your name."

"Ah gomen.  My name is Tanaka Reiko, but you can call me Reiko"  

Then it hit him.  The girl standing in front of him was the one from the dreams he was having.  He took another close look at her and realized that the little girl he knew from back then, was right in front of him! Or maybe he was wrong?  Oishi didn't know what to do.  Maybe the lack of sleep was confusing him.  "Is this the same Rei-chan I knew from before?" Oishi thought to himself.

"Rei-chan?" Oishi didn't realize he said that out loud.  Reiko blushed a little and when Oishi saw that he blushed a bright red. "Wow…I haven't been called that in a long time." Reiko laughed.  "I remember though…there was a boy from my childhood that used to call me that.  It's been so long, I wonder what that boy has been up to?"  She stopped.  "Sorry about ranting on.  By the way, I never did hear your n…"

"Oishi!" The class rep. ran up to him. "I forgot to give you these forms.  Could you do these tonight and give them to me tommorow?"

"No problem." Oishi took the forms from the class rep. whom then ran down the hall.  Oishi turned back to Reiko and noticed she had a shocked look on her face.  

"Are you Oishi Syuichiroh?" Reiko said in a shocked voice.  

"Hai" Oishi smiled at Reiko.  "It's been a long time hasn't it Rei-chan.  You look the same as always."

"Syu-kun!" Reiko said excitedly.  She dropped her stuff and gave Oishi a hug.  This seriously caught Oishi off guard.  Even with no one in the hall, having a girl hug him, even if it's his childhood friend, turned Oishi face a tomato red.  Reiko couldn't see.  She was too happy to see her old childhood friend again.  

"Sorry about that Syu-kun." Reiko said to Oishi, who looked like he was about to faint.  "I couldn't recognize you at first. Must have been the hairstyle (A/N:  LOL. If you recall from the anime series, Oishi each school year had on a different hairstyle).  Reiko looked at her watch.  "Ah look at the time, we better get going.  You can lead the way Syu-kun." Reiko said as she smiled.

Both Oishi and Reiko walked down the hall to the tennis courts.

To be cont.  

(A/N:  I hope that this one was a little bit better.  I know its still in the introducing part but don't worry, you'll find out what those promises are (that is if people continue to read, and give me reviews saying they want to read more *****hint hint* ).  There are some things left hanging, (ex. "incident") but will be explained in a later chapter. Some play interesting parts (*shocking spoiler* LOL ).  Give a review.  Reviews give me motivation to write more.  I welcome all suggestions. Onegai shimasu! 

Preview of what's to come:  Reiko tries out for the team, some past revealed, and…a match up?  


	3. Behind the Smile

(A/N:  Thanks again for those that gave reviews.  I'm glad to hear that the readers like what they're reading so far.  I just recently came back from Anime Expo and bought a whole lot of PoT stuff.   Just a forewarning:  this chapter will be a little sad.  (I would add Drama to the General/Romance, but only this chapter for now would fit under that.  May change it later).  Please enjoy. I got a comment about not knowing what she looks.  There was a little description in the 1st chapter but I added some more here if it helps. ) 

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own PoT/Tenipuri.  

Chapter 3:  Behind the Smile 

Over on the girl's courts (2 total to be exact) Reiko was playing a match against one of the members.  Many thoughts were running through her head.  Maybe her dad was right that it wasn't a good idea to have tried out for the team.  She heard that Seigaku had a good tennis team and took this as a chance to play against other good players.  But somehow, she wasn't so sure about that idea.  

"15-40"

"Oh yeah, I'm still playing." Reiko remembered.  She received the serve that was dealt and then aimed a strong forehand to the right corner" 

"Game Set.  Tanaka 6-1"

Reiko just won against her second opponent.

Seigaku girl's tennis team was good and Reiko seemed to fit in quite well.  

Today was supposed to be a normal self-practice day for the girl's team. When the coach heard that she had played tennis for almost 9 years, the coach just had to see for herself how good she was.  Reiko was nervous playing her first opponent.  She wasn't sure how well she would play against one of the regulars so she went all out.  15 minutes later, the match ended with Reiko winning 6-0.  Reiko thanked everyone she played with a smile. The coach was astonished with her talents and the members were glad to have another good player join the team.  The situation was nothing compared to what happened before.  She was really happy that she was welcomed to join.  

Reiko played another game.  She thought about holding back, but realized this girl was a much stronger player than the others she played. "Probably a really good singles player." Reiko thought.  Reiko focused where to direct her shots, followed through with efficiency, and was able to win the match 6-3.    

"Reiko you play very well." The last girl she had just beaten said. "I noticed you are quite well at controlling your shots."

"Arigatou.  You're a great player as well and thank you for the match" Reiko replied.  "Can I ask for your name?" 

"I'm Makoto Harada, a third year" The girl replied.  "What year are you?"

"I'm a third year as well."

Ah yes…she was a third year.  She wasn't at the bottom like before (aka: 1st year).  _"I don't have to worry about what happened before"_ Reiko thought.

"Let's play again sometime okay? I hope we can become good teammates." Makoto said offering her hand in a handshake.

Reiko shook her hand and nodded "I'll be happy to play you again." 

Her dad was wrong.  Trying out for the team was a good idea.  

_"Speaking of which"_ Reiko thought. _"I wonder how Syu-kun is doing?"_

Meanwhile…on the other tennis courts where the guys were playing…

Well…they weren't playing yet. They were running laps.

A loud scream was heard.  

Seems like there was another victim of Inui's special drinks.  

It was the same as always.  The regulars were strong enough to keep up with the laps while the rest of the members suffered the fate they so wanted to avoid.  Either they learn to run faster or Inui must be stopped.  Sadly the second choice wasn't going to be happening anytime soon.  

Inui was watching and was quite amazed as to how Oishi was able to keep running those laps while his mind was somewhere else on another planet. _ "This could be good data for later." _Inui thought.

Eiji however was very concern for his double's partner.  He tried to find out what was wrong earlier only to have Oishi yell at him and become even more outta focus.  Still, Eiji was determined not to give up.

"Oishi?  Ne….Oishi?" Eiji tried to get his attention with no success…for the 4th time.  

 Eiji tried to think about something that would somehow get Oishi's attention.  Knowing Oishi very well, he thought up something fast.  

"Oishi…" Eiji said. "You're thinking about a girl aren't you?"

"Eh?" Oishi turned to look at Eiji.  Only thing that Oishi heard was "girl" and that seemed to wake him up. 

 Seems like Eiji does know how to get his attention.  

"I was right!" Eiji exclaimed.  "You were thinking about a girl!"

"Oishi you sly one." Momo said after hearing in.  "So who's the lucky girl? Is it someone from your fan club?" (A/N:  For those that haven't seen episode 52, yes Oishi does have a fan club.)

"Hey guys." Oishi was blushing hard. "You got it all wrong.  It isn't like that!"

"Don't be embarrassed." Fuji said. "Everyone reaches that time at one point."

"That time?" Kaidoh asked curiously. (The guy is quite naïve about these things)

"You know…" Momo replied. "When you fall in love with someone."

Both Kaidoh and Kawamura both blushed upon hearing that. "Love?" They both said.  

"Minna!" Oishi exclaimed.  "You're taking it the wrong way."

"Gambatte Oishi-sempai." Ryoma said with a smirk. 

"I just can't win." Oishi said sadly.  

Tezuka as usual, made no comment about the issue. 

 (A/N:  Sorry if this sounds similar to that incident with Kawamura.  Running laps while talking was the best way to get all the members together to pick on Oishi (yah I can be mean) ^_^;)

"Last lap!" Inui called out. "And you know what will be waiting for the last member." Inui grinned evilly and brought out a pitcher full of a murky yellow mixture.  

If the thought about girls got Oishi's attention easily, Inui's juice was another.  The regulars thought that Oishi would have ran much slower from being distracted.  Instead, he ran so fast that all the members had to catch up to him.  

"This will definitely be good data" Inui said with an evil smile as he looked on as the regulars frantically ran to make sure they weren't last place.  In the end all the regulars finished at the same time so they all escaped another day from the terrifying clutches of Inui's juice.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

"Come on now focus." Oishi told himself while washing his face at the nearby faucets.  Oishi, known as the "Mother of Seigaku" always watched out for and worried for the other members.  Now, it seems like everyone was watching for his well-being.  After running, the regulars played short matches against one another.    He matched up with Kawamura.  Oishi tried his best, but truthfully he felt he just wasn't all there.  His shots weren't very strong and his hits weren't very accurate.  The match ended with Kawamura winning and Oishi getting smacked in the head once again with a tennis ball.  

"It's been a crazy week." Oishi said to himself as he dried his face with a towel.  First it was the weird dreams, then he gets smacked with a few tennis balls, his childhood friend suddenly appears, and now he's the talk of the tennis team.

He smacked his hands to his face.  "Baka!" He told himself.  "Why did I get so worked up over a girl? She's my childhood friend! We always hung out like best buddies.  There was nothing else!"  Oishi took a deep breath.  "Ah…I feel much better now that my mind has straightened out.  Back to the courts."  Oishi walked back.  

Smacking himself did do the trick.  He played a match against Kaidoh and was able to hit all his shots well.  Kaidoh, having watched the previous match with Kawamura, was off guard seeing Oishi play so well all of a sudden.  Oishi realized he was well focused playing and felt much better.  _"Finally got my mind back in order"_ He thought.  

Fuji after finishing his match watched the Oishi/Kaidoh match.  "Looks like he's back to normal" Fuji said to Tezuka who was standing next to him.  Tezuka nodded in agreement.  

And so, practice that day came to an end.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Oishi quickly changed and locked up the clubroom.  Before going to practice, he and Reiko decided to meet up a bit after practice ended.  He ran out to see Reiko standing near a tree nearby. 

"Gomen!" Oishi said as he ran toward Reiko.  

"No problem." Reiko said.  "I just got out recently so I wasn't waiting long." She looked at her watch.  "I didn't know practice ran so late.  I was hoping we could talk longer but I have to get back soon."  

"That's alright." Oishi replied.  "If we can't talk that much now, they'll be plenty of other times.  How about we talk a bit while walking back home?"

"Good idea." Reiko said to Oishi with a smile.  Seeing her smile reminded her of the same girl she was when they were younger.  _"Same as always."_ Oishi thought. 

Both started walking home.  Oishi started to feel a little awkward.  There were a million questions he wanted to ask her, but for some reason, he just couldn't think of anything to say.  

He took a glance at her.  She had removed the band that held her ponytail and her long black hair that went to her mid back was flowing in the wind.  Her brown eyes sparkled with cheerfulness and she stood about 160cm.  _"She looks much more cuter that before." _Oishi thought.  He then shook his head.  _"She's just a friend."_ He kept telling himself. 

"Ano…" Both exclaimed at the same time.  Suddenly, they both burst out laughing.  

"Gomen" Reiko said giggling. "There are so many things I wanted to ask you but I totally forgot what they were"

"Hontou?" Oishi said laughing. "I was thinking the same way."

Yes.  It was almost like old times.  They talked about the fun times when they first started school together and when they began playing tennis.  

"Those were fun times." Oishi also told her about the weird dreams he had this week.  Reiko couldn't help but be amused and laughed.  However, he didn't tell her about that 'incident'.  He wasn't sure how she would react towards it, let alone want her to remember it.  

"So how did practice go for you?" Oishi then asked.  

"It went pretty well." Reiko said cheerfully.  "The coach and the girl's were very friendly and welcomed me.  I never really expected that."

"Oh how come?" Oishi asked curiously. 

"Well…when I tried out for the tennis team at the start of junior high." Reiko replied. "I was meet with a lot of hostility."

"Hostility?" Oishi said in a concern voice.  "Why would that happen?"

 "Being a year younger for my school age, many of the girls weren't happy that a little girl was beating them out on the team.  I made the team those 2 years, but I got picked on a lot and couldn't make friends.  It got lonely so it wasn't that fun." Reiko said in a joking tone.  "But anyways, must be boring hearing about me getting picked on" She laughed.  

Oishi however didn't laugh.  He knew how it felt getting picked on by the sempais.  He recalled from when he was a first year on the tennis team that all the older members would look down on them.  Tezuka was injured by a sempai he angered when he played a match using his weaker arm.  Since that incident, both he and Tezuka respected the younger members.  Oishi always tried his best to make sure all the members were comfortable being in the tennis club.  

"How is your family?" Oishi asked changing the subject.  Reiko smiled.  "My dad is doing well.  He's adjusting back at his new workplace.  My sister is in 2nd grade and so far it seems like she's made lots of new friends." 

"That's good to hear.  How is your mom doing?" Oishi asked upon not hearing anything about her mom.  

"Um…okaasan…" Reiko said quietly. "…died late last year."

"Eh?" Oishi said in shock.  He didn't expect to hear something like this.  "W…What happened?"  

"A few years ago she caught some viral infection.  It was in remission, but when last winter came it just got worst and…" Reiko's voice trailed off.    

Oishi didn't know what to say.  "Gomen…"

Reiko shook her head and smiled to Oishi.  "Don't worry.  I'm fine. Sometimes it's hard, but life goes on…" Reiko brushed the bangs from her eyes.  "Sorry for saying such depressing things. Anyways, how is your family doing?  Is your dad, mom, and little sister doing alright?" 

Oishi just stood there.  A pain began to develop inside his heart.  

Since she went back to America, he eventually made new friends and had a very enjoyable life.  For her, she had to endure hardships by herself.  Like most friends when they leave, you sometimes forget about them as the years go by.  Oishi thought he never see Reiko again as time went by since he had not heard anything from her.  Since being reunited after hearing her life the past years, he really wished he could have been there for her when she needed him the most.  __

"Rei-chan." Oishi looked at her.  

"Nani?" Reiko said smiling back at him.

The smile he saw wasn't the same as before.  It wasn't the same smile as the girl he knew before.  

It was as smile that was hiding pain.  Seeing it brought him more pain.  _"If…If only I could have protected her from the pain."_ Oishi thought.  

He gave her a hug. 

 This hug wasn't like the playful hug Reiko had given him earlier when they first reunited.  It was tight…almost as if he never wanted to let her go.  

"Syu-kun?" Reiko was startled by the gesture Oishi did and blushed.  

"How…How can you keep smiling after all the painful things you had to endure?  Weren't you sad going through those times?" Oishi said in a sad voice while still hugging her tightly.  

Reiko still smiled after hearing the question.  "There were times when I wanted to cry.  But, I realized helping my family was the best thing I could do." Reiko replied. " I smile because I don't want anyone to see the pain I went through.  If I was sad, my family and everyone I know would be sad and I didn't want that to happen."

Reiko continued talking. "At one point early on (during 1st year), I was hurt pretty bad and wanted to quit the tennis team.  But then I realized that I could never do that.  I could never quit tennis."

"Doshite?" Oishi asked.  "What could possibly have made her want to keep playing if it hurt?"Oishi thought.  

Reiko smiled. "I realized if I quit then, there was a promise I would never been able to fulfill."

To be cont.  

(A/N: I hope this was an interesting chapter for you.  Sorry if this made people sad.  I promise you the next chapters won't be depressing.  I realize this story will be a mix of some romance, drama, and humor, I guess kinda like how life can be a mix of all three (I'm making some of this up as I go XD).  As always, give me reviews to see how it's going and persuade me to write more (its my first fanfic so I need reviews to help me out).  My biggest worry is how detailed I should go into describing a game or situation.  I don't want to make it too shallow nor too long that it causes boredom.  I hope this chapter gave you a better feel for how I developed my OC and possibly made you love Oishi even more XD.  Midterms are coming, but I'll try my best to keep up.) 

Preview of what's to come:  A match with a bet? 


	4. Don't Lose! Part 1

(A/N:  Thank you once again for sending reviews.  Sorry again if the last chapter was depressing.  It was so that you can understand why Reiko is the way she is.  It also fills in part of the gap where the two were apart.  A lot can change in 6 years.  Anyways, this chapter will hopefully be more uplifting and humorous.    I'm noticing this trend…all my chapters are getting longer and longer.  I decided to split the next one cuz I didn't want a super long chapter. To all those that wrote straight stories, (you know who you are cuz I gave reviews) make some more! All those I've read are really good!)

To Eiji:  I didn't see a PoT Artbook at the Anime Expo.  (If there was one, I would have seriously knocked everyone outta the way and bought it XD. I had to be quite violent just to buy some PoT stuff. j/k)

Disclaimer:  And once again I do not own PoT/Tenipuri.  I own all original characters in this story (aka: Reiko and whoever else I bring in).  

Italics means the person's thoughts

Chapter 4:  Don't Lose! Part 1

It's a bright Sunday morning.  The birds were chirping and there was a light breeze that made the leaves rustles a relaxing sound.  Reiko woke out of bed and yawned as she stretched her arms.  She took a look at the clock and noticed it was 8 am.  She got out of bed and walked to her desk located on the other side of the room.  There was a calendar posted on the wall near her desk and she looked at the date.  

"So the time has finally come." Reiko said.  She then recalled back on the conversation she had with Oishi a few days before:

_"A promise?" Oishi replied.  _

_Reiko nodded "I was sure you remembered.  When I noticed you were carrying a tennis bag, I knew you kept to your promise. Even after all these years, you've kept playing tennis."_

_Oishi thought back hard. Suddenly, he remembered that dream where they promised to try hard to fulfill their goals.  . _

_"Oh!" Oishi exclaimed.  "Now I remember!" Oishi rubbed his head "Gomen, it was so long ago since we made it."_

_"Yay!" Reiko said cheerfully. "I'm glad you remembered!  Hey, I was wondering…are you free this Sunday?"_

_"There is no tennis practice, so I should be free.  Any reason why?"_

_"Ano…" Reiko said nervously. "Would you like to play a match with me?"_

_"Eh?" _

_"Onegai!" Reiko pleaded.  "I was really happy knowing that you still played tennis this whole time.  However, I tried hard those 6 years as well and I want to show you how much I've improved.  I'm going to keep the promise we made!"_

_Oishi smiled. "I'm sure you'll keep to your promise.  However, I won't go easy on you."_

_"You better not go easy on me." Reiko smirked. _

_"Of course.  I promise" He patted Reiko on the head.  "Huh?  Did you get shorter?" Oishi grinned.  Oishi stood 175cm tall compared to Reiko who stood 160cm. _

_"Baka." Reiko said with a pout.  "You just got taller!"  (When they were little, there wasn't much height difference)_

_Reiko smacked Oishi with her bookbag.  Both of them laughed and continued to walk home.  _

_They both lived pretty close to each other.  Finally, they reached where they had to depart their ways.  _

_"Is 12 pm alright on Sunday?" Reiko asked.  _

_"12 sounds fine." Oishi replied. _

_"Alright.  How about we meet in front of the school?"_

_"Sounds good."_

_"Promise?" Reiko formed her hand for a pinky promise.  _

_Oishi nodded.  "Some things never do change with her." Oishi thought.  _

_He completed the promise.  _

"Okay!" Reiko said excitedly.  "I'm gonna try my very best today!"

Reiko changed out of her light blue nightgown into a pair green shorts and a white T-shirt.  She decided to take a little jog to ease her mind because she was already getting excited to finally get a chance to play against Oishi again.  She tied her long black hair into a ponytail and headed out the door.  

Meanwhile…

Oishi just recently got out of bed and was taking a shower.  Several thoughts were running through his head.  Being a Seigaku regular, he knew that he was pretty good.  However, he wasn't sure how well Reiko would play.  Since they were little, he always beat her at every match whenever they played.  A part of him didn't want her to lose again.  But, if he went easy on her, she could probably tell he did and she's be disappointed.  (A/N:  Oishi seriously worries too much.  Gotta love a guy that worries for a girl XD)

"Augh…what to do!" Oishi thought.  

He turned off the water, dried himself with a towel and changed.  

"I guess I'll have to see how well she plays" Oishi replied.  He really wanted her to fulfill her promise.  "Speaking of promises…I wonder…if she remembers the other one…" 

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

12pm 

Reiko was waiting outside the school gates.  Oishi saw her and rushed over.  

"Gomen" Oishi replied. "Sorry for coming late."

Reiko shook her head.  "You weren't late.  I got here early." 

"Oh I see" Oishi said in relief.  

Oishi took a look at Reiko and noticed she was wearing a very cute tennis outfit.  She wore a white tennis skirt and a lavender collar shirt.  On her right wrist, she had a white wristband.  Oishi as usual began to blush, but then shook it off.  "Shall we go then?" Oishi replied trying to get his mind off things.

Reiko smiled and nodded.  She noticed that Oishi was wearing a pair of white shorts and had a light blue shirt.  _"He does look kawaii."_ Reiko thought.  Unlike Oishi, Reiko was good at hiding her inner emotions.  

Both walked toward the school tennis courts. 

"Eh????" Reiko exclaimed. 

The tennis courts were locked.  They both went to see if a guard was around to open up the courts but weren't able to find one.  

"This sucks." Reiko said sadly as she slumped to the floor. She went from happy to sad in a mere second.  "Gomen Syu-kun."

"No need to apologize." Oishi replied. "Besides…I do know another place where they have tennis courts."

"You do!" Reiko exclaimed.  She went from sad to happy in a split second. 

Oishi laughed.  "Yes I know of another place.  Its not far from here."

"Yatta!" Reiko said cheerfully.  "Let's go then Syu-kun."

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

After walking a little ways, they finally reached their destination.  

"It's right up these stairs." Oishi replied.  Both walked up the stairs.  

"Wow!" Reiko exclaimed.  "I've never seen courts like these before." She looked around and saw newly furnished courts. 

"That's because they're street tennis courts. There used to be just one, but recently they made a few more." 

Reiko looked around and saw that there were people playing doubles and singles games.  "Aw…" She replied.  "Doesn't look like any courts are open." She then noticed that one of the singles games ended.  "Lets go over there Syu-kun. Their game just ended so maybe we could go use their court.  Come on."

Meanwhile on that court, a game did end. 

"Kuso…" Fuji Yuuta replied.  "I lost."  Yuuta and Yanagizawa were playing a short match and Yanagizawa won.  

"Hehehehehe.  It'll take you many years before you beat me dane" 

Mizuki, who was refereeing the match walked up to Yuuta.  "Oi…Yuuta-kun." Mizuki replied in his sly tone.  "How do you expect to beat your aniki (aka: older brother) playing like this?  Come now, we still need to train harder.  I have a special plan for you to try." 

"Sumimasen." Reiko replied.  

All three of the St. Rudolph guys looked toward the direction they heard the voice and saw a pretty girl.  

"Konnichiwa." Reiko said noticing she got their attention.  "I was wondering if you were done playing so that we could use this court." 

"Eh? Who might you be?" Yuuta replied.

"Are you new around here?" Mizuki asked.  "Not many girls come around these courts."

"What a kawaii girl dane!" Yanagizawa exclaimed.  

Reiko smiled.  "Anyways, were you guys done playing? We were hoping to play a little."

"We?" Mizuki replied.  He looked behind Reiko and saw Oishi walk to their court.  "Eh? Its Oishi from Seigaku!"

Oishi heard his name called and saw the guys from St. Rudolph. "Ah! It's St. Rudolph!" 

"Do you know them?" Reiko asked seeing that they somehow were acquainted before.  

Oishi nodded.  "Our team played St. Rudolph in the quarterfinals during the Tokyo Tournament."

"Which team won?" Reiko noticed the St. Rudolph guys turn their heads. "Never mind I asked." Reiko replied.  Just their looks already gave it away.  

Reiko looked at Yuuta.  "That guy looks familiar." Reiko said curiously.  

"He's Fuji's younger brother dane." Yanagizawa replied.  

"Oi…Yanagizawa! You didn't have to say that!" Yuuta replied angrily.  

"Eh?" Reiko said in shock. She took a closer look at Yuuta.  "You guys do look familiar."

"Just great…" Yuuta mumbled to himself.  Even now people still see him as Fuji's younger brother.  

"So Oishi, is this girl your girlfriend?" Mizuki asked curiously.  

Oishi turned red.  He didn't realize that walking around with Reiko was going to give people the impression that they were dating.  His mind went blank. 

"Um…of course not…but…" Oishi said hesitantly. 

"He's my childhood friend" Reiko replied smiling.  

Oishi breathed a sign of relief.  It was just like Reiko to get him out of sticky situations.  

"Oh I see." Mizuki replied.  

"So you guys aren't dating?" Yuuta asked. Reiko nodded her head in agreement.  

"Well…if that's the case dane." Yanagizawa replied.  "Want to go on a date with me dane?" He asked to Reiko.  

"Baka!" Oishi exclaimed blushing a little.  "Why would she want to do something like that?"

"What's the big deal?" Yanagizawa asked.  "You guys aren't dating."

Oishi thought about it.  _"He is right."_ Oishi told himself.  _"Why am I getting so hyped over that?"_

"Ahem." Reiko said, interrupting the conversation.  "Were you guys still using this court?"

"Chotto Matte." Mizuki said.  "There are rules you have to follow for street tennis."

"Rules?" Reiko replied.  "Gomen, I've never played street tennis before."

"The rules are simple." Mizuki continued.  "Challengers get to play whoever won the previous game." Mizuki pointed to Yanagizawa.  "He won the last match so whoever plays has to challenge him."

"So in other words, if one of us were to play and beat him, then that person would stay on the court and take on the next challenger." 

"That is correct." Mizuki replied. 

"That doesn't sound that complicated." Reiko said happily.  She talked to Oishi. "I'll go first and when I win you can play against me."

"That is "if" you win dane" Yanagizawa replied with a smirk. 

Reiko smiled.  "That's true.  If I win I'll be able to play Syu-kun" 

"Actually…I have a better idea dane." Yanagizawa said.  "Whether I win or lose, I'll come off the court so you can play against Oishi dane."

"Hontou!" Reiko exclaimed happily. 

"However…" Yanagizawa continued. "If you lose…you have to go on a date with me dane!" 

"Okay that's fine with me!" Reiko said smiling. 

"Rei-chan!" Oishi yelled.  "Don't agree so easily!"

"What's wrong with that?" Reiko replied.  "Either way I'll get a chance to play you." 

"That's not the point!" 

 "Oh I know…doesn't sound like I get anything if I were to win." Reiko pondered what she could do. "How about if I win, you have to buy me some drinks."  

 "Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" 

"Alright then. I guess it's settled."

"I give up…" Oishi said in frustration and slumped into a bench. 

 "Oishi." Mizuki replied calmly.  "Why are you getting so worked up? You just said she wasn't your girlfriend."

"Eh?" Oishi thought for a moment.  _"Why am I getting worked up?  I know she's not my girlfriend.  But still, ever since she came back, I've started to watch out for her like I did before."_ Oishi just sat there trying to get his mind into order.  "What's wrong with me?"

"Hm…" Mizuki thought as he saw Oishi sit there confused.  An evil smile appeared. _"This could provide useful data for later."_

Reiko opened her blue tennis bag and brought out a light silver racket with white strings.  She tied her white tennis shoes tightly and walked over to Oishi, who was still sitting on the bench pondering his thoughts.  

"Syu-kun." Reiko replied cheerfully.  

Oishi looked up to see Reiko smiling at him.  He wasn't sure what to say, for he knew Reiko wasn't going to change her mind nor back out of this match. He knew how strong St. Rudolph was and that's why he was worried.  Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke.  "Rei-chan, please don't lose."

"Geez…you're just the same as before, always worried whenever I played against guys. Anyways, I don't plan on losing." Reiko replied with a sigh.  "However, I have one favor to ask you."

"Nani?"

"Please don't worry for me anymore.  I can take care of myself." 

Reiko walked onto the court and stretched a little.  

Yanagizawa was fixing his tennis shoes when Yuuta walked up to him.  

"Hey Yanagizawa, are you sure about this?"

Yanagizawa smiled. "Either way I get to treat a pretty girl dane"

_"Weirdo"_ Yuuta thought.  "Are you planning on going easy on her?" Yuuta then asked.  

"We'll see at the start of the match dane." Yanagizawa replied.  

He picked up his racket and walked onto the court. 

The match began with Yanagisawa serving.  "Let's see how well she plays dane." He hit a light serve.  She gripped the racket with her right hand and smacked the ball to the far left from where he was serving.  

"0-15"

"If you want that date you're going to have to try harder than that." Reiko replied with a smile.  

_"Feisty girl dane."_ Yanagisawa thought.  _"Looks like I'm going to have to play seriously dane."_

And so, Yanagisawa did play seriously.  Soon, the score was 3-0 in favor of Yanagisawa.  

Oishi was now really worried.  

He watched Reiko and although she played fine, Yanagisawa was playing much better than her.  Sure Reiko said not to worry about her, but he just couldn't help knowing that if she lost she'd end up dating someone else.  But then again, why should he care?  Reiko could date anyone she wanted to.  _"Am I just worried about her, or is there more to this?"_ He thought.  

Yuuta took notice of Oishi's situation and sighed.  He just couldn't understand why he was getting so uptight.  

"Oishi" Oishi looked up to find that it was Mizuki that called his name.  "Don't lose faith in your friend yet.  I know you've seen Yanagizawa play before.  However, your friend does have an advantage." 

Oishi couldn't understand.  Reiko was losing 0-3.  He couldn't see how Reiko would be able to come back from being behind.  However, Mizuki who was referring the match noticed something about Reiko.  He could tell by the look in her eyes and the way she was playing.  _"This will be interesting." _Mizuki thought.

"Hehehehehe…" Yanagizawa excitedly replied.  "Looks like I'll be getting that date dane."

"Don't be so sure" Reiko replied smiling.  "I hope you haven't been playing your best now. Because if you have, its time to turn the game around." 

Reiko bounced the ball a few times before getting ready to serve.  

To be cont.  

(A/N:  And that concludes part 1!  So what will happen next? Will Reiko make a comeback or will she have to date Yanagisawa? As you probably found out, the first promise was given.  Yes it was tennis related, but hey it's PoT! You gotta have some tennis involved!  Please give a review if you like what you are reading or if you have comments about anything. I prefer stuff that would help me improve, but even if you like it please review saying you like it! Poor Oishi, he worries way too much.  But then again isn't that how he is? Gotta luv him XD.  If you are missing the regulars, they will be coming in soon.  I have a plan coming XD. And once again, thank you for reading!)

Just a sidenote:  If you were wondering if Reiko is naïve as to whether Oishi likes her or not, keep in mind that he's watched out for her since they were little.  She's not sure and is taking his actions as watching out for her.  Oishi from this match begins to develop feelings that aren't the same as before.  

Preview: The conclusion of the bet and Reiko vs. Oishi match.  


	5. Don't Lose! Part 2

(A/N: Here comes part 2! Been working on my other fanfic (Seigaku Slumber Party) because the idea just wouldn't leave my head XD.  Well…the reviews said people didn't want Reiko to date Yanagizawa.  Haha…we can't let Oishi suffer more!  Hope you enjoy this one.  If you have seen Episode 71, there are some jokes that come from it in this chapter.  If you haven't, it's still fine to read. No spoilers are involved.) 

Disclaimer:  Blah Blah Blah.  I do not own the rights to PoT.  Konomi Takeshi does.  

Italics means the person's thoughts.

Chapter 5:  Don't Lose Part 2.  

Momoshiro and Ryoma were walking towards the street tennis courts.  Since there was no club practice on Sundays, Ryoma wanted to go play some tennis since any day without tennis felt awkward for him.  He was going to ask his dad Nanjiroh, but apparently he went out for an 'errand' and wasn't going to be back for a while.  So instead, Ryoma called up Momoshiro.  

"Momo-sempai."

"What's up Echizen?"

"Why are we going to the street tennis courts?  Aren't the school courts closer?"

"Actually they're about the same distance away and the school courts might be closed."

"Is that so?  Are you sure you're not going just to see a 'certain' someone?"

"Someone?  Like who?"

"Tachibana Ann?" Ryoma said with a smirk.  

Momo blushed.  "O…Of course not!  Why would I go for that reason?!"

"Hm…you're blushing Momo-sempai."

Momo turned his head.  "I am not! Besides, if Tachibana Ann is there, someone else is also bound to be there…" Momo shook his head.  He wasn't exactly keen on seeing the speed demon so soon, especially what happened the last time they met.  Both continued walking towards the courts.

Meanwhile on the street tennis courts, Yanagizawa was sweating hard.  He just blew his 3-0 lead and was now trailing behind 3-5.  Yanagizawa bounced the ball a few times and was getting ready to serve.  Reiko was on the other side of the court looking pretty calm.  He threw a fast serve and Reiko was able to receive it fast towards the opposite side of the court right on the line.  

"0-15"

Oishi just stood there not believing what he saw.  Reiko had made a big turn around in such a short amount of time.  Her shots was consistent, she had good control of the ball, and was fast around the court.  It seemed like she knew where all of Yanagizawa's shots were going.  

"0-40"

Yanagizawa was looking frustrated.  He was playing his hardest and was still struggling.  He wiped the sweat off his forehead.  There was no way he was going to lose to a girl like this.  He served the ball and she received it.  Yanagizawa took notice that the right side of her court was open.  He was right about to hit over there when suddenly he saw her do a split step and move over to that side.  This caught him off guard and he ended up lobbing the ball up.  Reiko jumped up and smashed the ball towards his feet.  

"Game Set.  Tanaka wins 6-3"

"No way…I can't believe I lost dane" Yanagizawa said sadly as he went up the net.  

"Ano…I never got your name" Yanagizawa looked up to see Reiko smiling and offering a handshake.

Seeing Reiko smile brought warmth to his heart even though he lost.  He smiled and shook her hand.  "The name is Yanagizawa Shinya dane."

"Yanagizawa-kun?  It was a great game.  I hope we can play again sometime."  Reiko said cheerfully.  "Now about that deal…"

"Hai hai…a man always keeps his word dane."

"Arigatou Yanagizawa-kun.  Two fruit juices will be fine."

Yanagizawa walked over to the vending machine nearby.  Oishi just sat on the bench dazed.  He was trying to figure out how Reiko was able to pull it off.  "How did she…?"

"Tanaka-san had some interesting tactics." Mizuki said to Oishi.  "For starts, you have to remember that when we played your team I already collected data on all your members.  With that, I was able to plan ahead to give our team an advantage so your team had to struggle a bit."  Mizuki continued talking.  "Yanagizawa is fast, but works better as a doubles player so he's not very well at covering the whole court.  Reiko took advantage of this and ended up hitting the ball to the opposite sides of the court.  By doing so, this caused Yanagizawa's stamina to wear out, which was why he was tired near the end of the game.  You also probably noticed that she has very good control of the ball, which was how she sent him running."

"But…if she was able to do all that…" Yuuta asked.  "Why did she end up losing in the beginning?"

"Psychological strategy."

"Nani?"

"You probably noticed in the beginning that Yanagizawa was excited about wanting to win so he could get a date.  After Reiko's first shot, which was strong and controlled, I noticed all her other hits weren't very accurate and she slowed down in speed.  By having Yanagizawa have a lead of 3-0 in the beginning, it gave him some confidence and made him cocky.  However, by taking control of the game and winning all the games afterwards, Yanagizawa lost his focus and he ended up playing poorly."

"So in other words…Rei-chan lost on purpose in the beginning?!"  Oishi said with some frustration.

"Hehe…looks like Mizuki-san saw through my plan.  Gomen gomen Syu-kun!" Reiko was listening in on the conversation and apologized.  "That's why I said not to worry."  She then ran over to Yanagizawa at the vending machine.  

"Syu-kun?!"  Oishi turned around to see Ryoma and Momoshiro standing behind him.  Both of them had really big smirks on their faces.  

"Oishi-sempai.  You didn't have to lie to us about not having a girlfriend!" Momoshiro exclaimed.  "And she's calling you Syu-kun…that's quite kawaii!"

"Momoshiro! Echizen! You got it all wrong! We just came here to play some tennis."

"Is that so?" Ryoma asked.  "Then how come she was playing against Yanagizawa?"

"It was a bet." Mizuki cut in.  "If Yanagizawa won the match, Tanaka-san would have to go on a date.  If Tanaka-san won, Yanagizawa would treat her to some drinks."

"Hey Oishi-sempai! You shouldn't let your girlfriend go out with someone else!"

"Like I just said Momoshiro…it's not like that!"  

"Syu-kun." Everyone turned and saw Reiko walk up to them.  "Here you go.  My treat!"  She tossed a can of juice towards Oishi.  "Ara? Are these your friends?"  She looked at both Ryoma and Momoshiro.  

Oishi introduced each other.  "Rei-chan, these are some of the Seigaku regulars on the team: Momoshiro Takeshi and Echizen Ryoma.  Guys, this is my childhood friend Tanaka Reiko."  

"Its nice to meet Syu-kun's friends." Reiko bowed politely.  She looked at Ryoma.  "Echizen Ryoma?  You sound very familiar.  Did you used to live in the United States?"  Ryoma just nodded his head.  Reiko walked towards her bag and was digging for something.  She got up and walked back towards Ryoma and held out a pad of paper and a pen.  "Echizen-kun…can I get your autograph?"  Everyone sweatdrops.  

"Hey Echizen…do you know this girl?" Momoshiro whispered in his ear.  Ryoma just looked back giving him the "does it looks like I know her" look.  

"Gomen.  It's just that I watched you on television and read about you in magazines back in America.  I really admired you, especially when you won 4 junior championships!  Wow…I can't believe I'm attending the same school as Echizen Ryoma!"  

"Looks like you got another fan Echizen.  You're so popular with the girls." Momoshiro smirked and rubbed Ryoma's head. 

"That hurts Momo-sempai."  

Reiko finished her can of juice.  "Anyways Syu-kun.  You ready to play a match?"

"Huh?!" Momoshiro exclaimed in disbelief.  "You're going to play Tanaka-san?"

"That's what I said earlier.  We came here to play against each other."

"Oishi-sempai, is that alright?"

"Just watch." Oishi had on a very determined face.  After seeing the previous match, he knew he didn't have to go easy on her.   He brought out his racket and walked onto the court.

"Hm…I have a bad feeling." Momoshiro said in a worried tone.  "Its not like Oishi to go up against a girl seriously."

"She's a pretty good player." Yuuta was sitting near them hearing in on the conversation.  "Remember that she just beat Yanagizawa 6-3."

"Hey…its Fuji's younger brother."

"Will you stop referring to me as Fuji's younger brother!" 

"Hm…this will be an interesting match to watch." Ryoma and everyone else sat down on the benches and watched the match.  Oishi and Reiko were at the net spinning the racket to decide who would serve first.  

"Rei-chan."

"What is it Syu-kun?"

"You better not go easy on me in the beginning."

"I wouldn't dream of it.  Besides, I only did that to piss you off."  Reiko giggled.  "Like I said, I told you not to worry about me."

"Eh?  That was pretty mean, but I should have known.  You've done that to all the other guys you've played before."

"I would have thought you've learned by now." Reiko said with a smirk.  "Syu-kun, I'm not going to lose again. 

"I would like to see that.  But you're going to have to earn it."

"I never expected it to come easy.  Let's play a good game."

Serve was decided and Reiko was to start.  She walked toward the baseline and placed one ball in her skirt pocket while bouncing the other ball a few times with her tennis racket.  She thought about the hardships she put up with the last few years at school and how it finally came down to this very moment.  _"Just wait Syu-kun.  I'm going to show you I didn't waste these last 6 years for nothing." _She tossed the ball up getting ready to serve.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

On the far street tennis courts, Kamio Akira and Ibu Shinji from Fudomine were playing a match against each other.  Shinji served a kick serve and Kamio countered with his rhythm.  They were having a close game and Shinji noticed that there was some commotion going on in the far street tennis court.  

"Hm…I wonder what is going on over there."

"I'm not sure…seems like there are a lot of people crowded over there." Kamio saw Tachibana Ann coming back from the crowd. "Hey Ann-chan.  What's going on over there?"

"There is some match going on between Oishi from Seigaku and some unknown girl.  It's pretty close right now."

"Seigaku?  Maybe we should go check this out.  Let's go Shinji" 

 All three of them walked towards the crowd.  They looked through the crowd and say Oishi and Reiko breathing hard while receiving each other's hits.  Kamio looked around and notice that he recognized some faces.  He saw St. Rudolph's Mizuki, Yanagizawa, Fuji Yuuta and Seigaku's Echizen and Momoshiro.  Upon seeing Momoshiro in the crowd, Kamio started to get frustrated.  

"Hey Momoshiro!" Kamio yelled from the other side.  "What are you doing here?" 

Momoshiro looked up.  _"Kuso…its Kamio!"_

Kamio looked at Ann. "Hey Ann-chan.  Did you invite Momoshiro here again?!"

"Huh?"

"Hey be quiet over there! There's a match going on!" Someone yelled.  

Kamio got embarrassed for yelling out during the match.  However, his yelling didn't have any affect on the two playing.  They were concentrating so hard that no outside voices could be heard in their minds.  Both have been playing very consistently and the game only differed by one point between them.  Only one thing was on Reiko's mind:  beat Syu-kun was all that mattered to her now.  Oishi saw her determination and smiled.  She was keeping her promise by giving him a hard time in the match.  However, he wasn't going to give in so easily.  Oishi hit a Moon Volley, which caught Reiko off guard.  The ball sailed behind her and landed on the back line.  

"Game Oishi 4-4"

The match continued on. 

"Game Tanaka 5-4"

"Tanaka-san is pretty good" Momoshiro looked at Ryoma.  "What do you think?"

"Hm…not bad.  She's a little on the weak side though."

"You never do say any good comments."

"Look" Ryoma pointed at Reiko who just hit a backhand.  Momoshiro looked and saw what he meant.  She hit the backhand with both hands instead of just one like most the regulars did.  Reiko also had to predict ahead and swing faster in order to get full power in her hits.  Luckily for her, Oishi wasn't a power hitter so she was able to maintain the game. 

The match still continued on.  There was still only a one-point difference in the match.  

Reiko hit a strong forehand and ran up the net.  Oishi saw this and smiled.  He scrapped his racket towards the ground.  

"Ah…he's going to do the Moon Volley again!" Momo exclaimed.  

Reiko saw what Oishi was doing and she smirked.  Right when he hit it, she quickly ran backwards.  Everyone was shocked to see her run back so quickly, especially since the game had gone on for so long and both looked exhausted.  

"You can't trick me twice Syu-kun." Reiko was in the serve position and slammed the ball to the opposite side of Oishi, hitting the back corner right on the line.  

"Game Set.  Tanaka wins 7-5"

Oishi closed his eyes and smiled a sign of relief.  He had played his hardest and Reiko was finally able to beat him.  Reiko dropped her racket and fell to her knees.  "I…I finally did it…" She said panting.  "I finally beat Syu-kun!"  After 6 years of working towards her goal, she had finally achieved it.  She walked up to the net and shook Oishi's hand.  

"I admit defeat Rei-chan.  You kept your promise." 

 Reiko smiled and gave Oishi a hug.  "Arigatou, Syu-kun."  

The crowd clapped for seeing such an intense game.  Others were wooing at Oishi for having such a 'kawaii' friend, which left Oishi turning red.  However from outside the crowd, a mysterious figure stood.  He had happened to come by recently and saw the end of the match.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

"Oishi-sempai.  Do you and Tanaka-san want to hit around with us?" Momoshiro asked getting his racket out.  

"Arigatou.  But I think we're tired out and are going to head off.  You guys have fun."

Momoshiro walked up to Oishi and gave him a nudge in the arm.  "And you have fun as well with your kawaii friend, Oishi-sempai."  Oishi started to blush.  He looked at Reiko who was just smiling and didn't hear what Momoshiro said.  Oishi breathed a sigh of relief.  

"I guess we'll be off then.  You guys take care." Oishi and Reiko left the street tennis courts.  

Momoshiro turned to Ryoma  "Alright I guess we can start…"

"Matte!" Kamio ran up to Momoshiro.  "You never answered my question as to why you are here!"

"Huh?  Isn't it obvious? I came here to play some tennis."

"Is that so?  I hope that wasn't some excuse to go see Ann-chan!"  Kamio turned to Ann.  "Did you ask him to come?"

Ann just smiled.  "It doesn't matter if I asked or not.  Why don't we all play together?"

"You're not helping the situation." Momoshiro said with a sigh.  

Yuuta walked up to Ryoma.  "Hey are you busy?  Want to go play a match since we couldn't do so before?"

"Fine with me."

"Matte." Shinji walked up to the two.  "Last time I had asked first and didn't get a chance to play.  So because of that I should have the right to play him first."  

"Last time doesn't matter anymore.  I asked him first now so I have the right."

"Geez…you are annoying."

"What did you say?"  

Ryoma just sighed and just stared at the two bickering.  

Mizuki looked around.  "Kuso…it would have been nice if Fuji Syusuke was around.  I would have liked to have a rematch with him.  And he ignored me last time…that bastard!"

Somewhere not far off…

Someone sneezed.

"Are you alright Syusuke?"  Fuji's sister Yumiko asked.  "I hope you aren't coming down with a summer cold."

"I'm alright Nee-san.  Perhaps someone was talking about me" Fuji snickered. 

"Oh I see.  Could you go out and run some errands for me?"

"No problem Nee-san."

Back to the street tennis courts…

"Why don't we just pull straws?" Ann suggested.  

"Remember what happened last time?!" Both Kamio and Momoshiro yelled.  They looked at each other and turned their heads.  

This was going to be a long day.

Anyways…lets turn back to our main character of the story….

Oishi and Reiko were walking down the street.  They were cheerfully talking about the match they just had and were deciding what to do.  Little did they know that the mysterious figure from before was following them.  

"Want to go get something to drink Rei-chan?"

"Sure thing.  I heard there is a really good smoothie place nearby."

"Oh really.  Let's go there…it'll be my treat."

"Eh…you don't have to do that Syu-kun."

"Don't worry, I insist."

"Arigatou Syu-kun." 

She grabbed onto his arm playfully, which caused Oishi to blush a little.  Reiko then let go of his arm and patted Oishi on the shoulder.  The two continued to chat while walking down the street.  The mysterious figure saw part of the conversation and had a very large grin on his face.    

"This will provide good data…" 

He brought out his phone and began dialing numbers.  

To be cont.  

(A/N:  Wow that was a lot.  I'm sure we all know who the mysterious figure at the end was.  You could probably guess what's going to happen, but if not just wait and see!  Please give a review telling me how it's going or if something sucks.  (Reviews help with improvements and motivation).  I greatly appreciate them. Onegai!  Thank you all for reading!)

Preview:  What would happen if Eiji saw the two? Oishi has a promise to keep as well.  What is it?


	6. Phone Mayhem

(A/N:  Here comes another chapter!  Time to bring back all the Seigaku regulars!  Episode 71 was one of my favorites and yes part of this chapter will be a play off of it.  There are some silly jokes, but just remember…this is rated G (if you think its really bad I'll change it to PG)!  Thanks once again for sending reviews (Tsubame Gaeshi, Jen-chan).  Thank you everyone for reading.  You've given me the motivation to get this far.)

Disclaimer:  And for the 6th time…all rights to PoT/Tenipuri belong to Konomi Takeshi.  I own Reiko and any made up characters I choose to bring in.  

Chapter 6:  Phone Mayhem

It's a nice bright mid afternoon Sunday (still the same day as the 2 previous chapters).  Two figures with tennis bags are seen walking out of a racket shop.  They are both wearing casual clothing since there was no school today.  One of them has red hair and has a cheerful smile with a white bandage on the right side of his face, while the other has light brown hair with long side burns.

"Thanks for coming to the racket shop with me Eiji.  My strings needed to be restrung since they became loose from all the power shots I've been hitting."

"No Problem Taka-san.  My racket needed to get a new grip.  Plus, it's also nice to hang out with friends on a non-school day."  Eiji looked at the time. "Do you have any other plans today?"

"Not for now.  My dad doesn't need me to help out at the restaurant till the evening so I'm free till then."

"If that's the case…want to go play some tennis?"

"Sounds good.  I could test out my new strings."

"Alright then I guess we…." Suddenly Eiji's cell phone rang.  "Eh?  I wonder who would be calling me at this time."  Eiji picked up his phone.  "Moshi moshi?" 

"Kikumaru?  This is Inui."

"Hey Inui.  What's up?" 

"It's a date."

"Nani?"

"Remember how in practice Oishi was acting weird and it was concluded because of a girl?  I've just recently followed him from the street tennis courts and he's walking to a café with some girl.  He's going to treat her."

"Eh???  Since when did Oishi get a girlfriend?  I thought he was always shy with girls.  I can't believe he didn't even tell his doubles partner!  So who's the lucky girl?  Do we know her?"

Inui flipped through his notebook.  "That I'm not sure about.  I've looked at the data from all the girls in his fan club and none of the descriptions match.  She could be from another school or possibly new around here.  It usually takes me a week or two to gather data on newcomers."

"Oh is that so?  Can you give me a description of her? Is she cute?"

"Let's see.  She's cute, about 160cm tall, long black hair that goes about mid-back which is tied back in a ponytail, dark brown eyes, fair skin, and has a very sweet voice.  I must say Oishi made a pretty good choice."

"Hm…that description sounds like Reiko-chan."

"Reiko-chan?  Who's that?"

"She's a new girl in our class that transferred in last week."

A very long pause in the conversation occurred.  

"Eh!  That might be Reiko-chan!"  Eiji exclaimed.  "Inui, where are you now?"

"They recently went into the café located near the intersection with the Asahiya bookstore and the French bakery, the one that recently opened up last week."

"Okay…keep a watch on them till I come by.  Taka-san is with me so we'll meet up over there.  See you then." Eiji hung up his cell phone.  "Taka-san let's go."

"But Eiji…what about playing tennis."

"Forget tennis!  This is more important!" Eiji grabbed Kawamura's hand and ran down the street towards the café.

After Eiji hung up, Inui proceeded to make a few more calls.  He called Ryoma's house first.  His mom answered the phone and said he was out.  Inui then called Momo's cell phone.  The phone rang, but Momoshiro had left his cell phone on silent. 

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS 

Even if Momoshiro's cell phone wasn't on silent, he was quite occupied at the time…

A large frustrated look stood upon Momoshiro's face.  "Of all possible chances…"

Kamio also had a frustrated look.  "Why of all combinations…"

"How the hell did I get paired up with you again!?"  Both yelled at each other.  

Everyone at the street tennis courts had decided to pull straws again to determine pairings for a match.  Ironically, Kamio and Momoshiro were paired up.  On the other side, Fuji Yuuta and Ryoma were paired up.  Yanagizawa, Shinji, and Ann were sitting on the benches and Mizuki was refereeing the game.  

"This sucks."  Yuuta was standing near the net.  "I was hoping I could play a match against Echizen."  

Ryoma bounced the ball a few times.  "Here I go."  Ryoma tossed the ball up and served. 

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Inui then called up some other people. 

"Moshi moshi?"  

"Ah Tezuka?  This is Inui."  

"What is it Inui?"

Inui told Tezuka about the whole situation.  "…and that's the gist of it.  So what do you think Tezuka?  Want to go follow…" BEEP BEEP.

Inui looked at his phone.  "He hung up…" (XD)

Eiji and Kawamura meet up with Inui right after.  They were both breathing hard for running by so fast.  All three of them stood at the street on the opposite side of the café.  From a distance, Eiji was able to see through the glass that looked into the café.  He was able to see Oishi and from the opposite side of him he saw a girl, which Eiji distinctly recognized. 

"That bastard!" Eiji exclaimed.  "Since when did he get the advantage on Reiko-chan?  And why couldn't he tell me about it?  I just want to go over there and ask him how he could keep things from me!" 

"Calm down Eiji."  Kawamura tried to do his best to lower Eiji's frustration.  "Oishi probably had a reason for this.  Let's be patient for now and you can ask him later."

Still…Eiji was watching the two sitting there talking cheerfully to each other.  Oishi was one of his best friends, but for Oishi not to tell him about this really hurt him deeply.  The three of them were waiting around wondering what they should do when they saw Fuji come out of the bookstore right next to them.  

"Hey Fuji!" Eiji exclaimed.  

Fuji turned and saw Inui, Kawamura, and Eiji.  "Hey guys.  What are you doing here?"

Eiji ran up to him.  "Fuji!  Oishi is dating Reiko-chan!  Can you believe this?  He never told me about having a girlfriend!  When did he hook up with her?  How could he do this to me!"  Eiji pouted.   

"Reiko-san?"  Eiji pointed at the window of the café.  Fuji looked and saw Oishi with Reiko.  A large smile came upon his face.  "Hm…this could be interesting."  

"By the way Fuji…what are you doing here?" Taka-san asked noticing Fuji was carrying a bag.  

"Oh, my Nee-san wanted me to pick up some things for her.  I just picked up the latest book on a novel she's reading."

"Do you need to head back?"

Fuji shook his head.  "I'm sure Nee-san can wait.  Besides…"  Fuji looked back at the café.  "I would like to see what happens."

Inui was still calling other people.  

"Inui!  How many more people do you need to call?" Eiji wailed. 

"Just one more…" The phone on the other side began to ring.  

"Hai.  This is Kaidoh."

"Kaidoh?  This is Inui."

"Oh.  What's up Inui-sempai?"  

"We are following Oishi and a girl named Reiko, who we assume is his new girlfriend and they're going on a date.  I was wondering if you wanted to come by with us to go follow them and get some information on the two.  So is that a yes?"

Inui suddenly heard Kaidoh scream on the other side and the phone hung up.  "What was that about?"

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

We bring you a little break right now…

If you were wondering why Kaidoh screamed, lets take you to his side of the phone conversation.  

Kaidoh was doing his routine jog when Inui called his cell phone.  Kaidoh picked it up and listened to what Inui had to say.  It just so happened that when Inui was talking, there were loud ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks running down the street to help out in a nearby accident on Kaidoh's side.  The loud noises blurred out part of the conversation.  This is what Kaidoh actually heard:  

We are **************** going on a date.  I was wondering if you wanted ***************** to get some **********.  So is that a yes?  

End of conversation. (A/N:  I think that scene from episode 71 was the largest implication of YAOI I have ever found in PoT.  What was Konomi Takeshi thinking??? LOL)

Anyways…now that we cleared that up, lets go back to the story!

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

"Well…I guess Kaidoh isn't coming."  Inui shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"So what should we do now?"  Kawamura asked.  

"We could follow them.  They just left the café."  Fuji pointed at Oishi and Reiko leaving the café. 

"Then let's go!"  Eiji exclaimed.  The four of them: Eiji, Kawamura, Inui, and Fuji all followed a distance away.  

"It seems like they're talking about something.  Kikumaru, can you hear what they're saying?"  

Eiji, known for having very keen senses, tried his best to listen in on their conversation.  He missed some of the beginning, but was able to hear everything afterwards:

"Rei-chan…I didn't think you'd remember that promise."

"Of course not Syu-kun!  How could I forget something like that!"

"That's true…considering I remembered your promise.  Do you want to go do it now?"

"Sure thing."  Reiko slapped her tennis bag.  "I even brought 'it' along."

"Oh really?  I didn't think you'd bring that along." Oishi patted his tennis bag.  "I even brought 'it' as well."  

"Eh?  So you were planning on doing this today anyways!"

Oishi scratched his head and blushed a little.  "I guess great minds think alike."

"Haha…that's true.  Do you know any good places nearby?"

"There's one not too far from here."

"I'm getting kind of nervous though.  I have to admit I haven't done this is quite a while."

"Need me to give you some tips?" Oishi said with a smirk.  

"Tips from you?  That would be embarrassing!  I don't think I'm that bad!  Besides…I have a few impressive tricks I can show you."  

"I can't wait to see."  Oishi said with a smile.  

"And I can't wait to see what you'll show me."  Reiko smiled back.  

Both continued walking towards their destination. 

(A/N:  For crying out loud this is G rated! XD) 

"Eiji…why is your face all red?"  Kawamura noticed that Eiji had turned so red that his hair and face were the same color.  

"Oh my gosh….Oishi…how could you?" Eiji said in disbelief.  It was true he didn't know Reiko that well…but Oishi?

"What were they talking about Eiji?"  Eiji whispered into Fuji's ear.  Fuji just nodded and listened.  Suddenly, his blue eyes widened really large.  "Wow…this is quite interesting.  I never would expect Oishi to do that."

"Tell me Eiji."  Eiji whispered into Kawamura's ear.  Suddenly, his face turned as red as Eiji's.  "Eh?  Are you sure?  Oishi wouldn't do something like that!"

Inui who had also listened to what Eiji just said was busy writing in his notebook.  "Who would have thought the 'Mother of Seigaku' would do something like this.  From data collected on Oishi, there would be a 0.000001% chance that he would attempt something like that.  Then again, I don't have any data on Oishi having a girlfriend so anything could happen.  I must say he's quite bold and daring.  This will be very interesting data.  " Inui then took out his cell phone and made another call.  

"Moshi moshi?"

"Tezuka?  This is Inui."

Inui told Tezuka about the conversation Eiji just mentioned.  "So what should we do Te…" BEEP BEEP.   Inui looked at his phone.  "He hung up…"

"Guys! We have to stop them!  They're making a terrible mistake they might regret!" Eiji exclaimed.  He was scared for the worst and didn't want to think about what was going to happen between the girl he had a crush on and one of his best friends.  (A/N:  If I were in Eiji's position and thinking the same way, I would probably be freaked as well.  LOL)

"In the mean time, let's just follow them and see where they go." Inui replied fixing his glasses.  "If something bad happens, we could always intervene."

"Good idea Inui.  Let's keep following them."  Fuji and the rest of them continued to follow Oishi and Reiko.  

To be cont.  

(A/N:  So what exactly were they talking about and what is Eiji thinking???  Please remember that they are only junior high students and this is a G rated fanfic!  If I were thinking the worst I would have made this PG-13/R (LOL).  Besides, we all know Oishi wouldn't do something like that!  He's too sweet and caring!  Here's a hint though, Oishi is good at something (no not that! I just said this is a G rated fanfic! XD) Hehe…anyways please give a review on what you think.  Is the story interesting?  Does it drag on?  I'm hoping it's interesting.  Thanks for reading!)  

Preview:  Find out what Oishi and Reiko need to settle.  Reiko gets in a pinch and saves Oishi?  


	7. I'll Protect You Forever

(A/N:  The second promise will now be revealed!  Thanks again for reviews.  If you were wondering, chapters 4-7 all occurred in the same day!  Geez what a long day!  Hehe…anyways, enjoy the chapter.  It's a jump from humor to drama.  Small spoiler is given, but not really important. Wonder how that will go XD. The title reveals it all…or maybe not XD.) 

Italics mean the person's thoughts.

Disclaimer:  The rights to PoT/Tenipuri belong to Konomi Takeshi.  I own Reiko and any other characters I decide to bring in.  

Chapter 7: I'll Protect You Forever

The four Seigaku regulars stood in disbelief as to where they were standing. Reiko and Oishi had entered the building moments before and the Seigaku regulars were standing right outside the entrance.  Fuji was giggling, Inui was writing in his notebook, Kawamura was dumbfounded, and Eiji was still bright red.  Eiji wasn't red because of the building they were standing next to, but red due to a very big misunderstanding.  

"BOWLING?!" All four Seigaku regulars exclaimed.  

They were standing outside a bowling alley.  After breathing a sigh of relief that the worst situation was not to occur, the four Seigaku regulars entered the building.  There were tables and seats that overlooked the area and a wide staircase lead down from the top area to the bowling alley.  There were about a dozen bowling lanes and each lane had an overhead scoreboard.  There were smaller tables and seats next to the bowling lanes to write down the scores and for people to wait on turns.  The four of them sat down on one of the top tables that overlooked the bowling alley.  They could see Oishi and Reiko at the bottom tying their shoes getting ready to bowl.  

Reiko went to look at various bowling balls to decide which one would best suit her.  She saw a marble green bowling ball that weighed about 7lbs.  "Ah this will do."  She was about to pick it up when a large guy came by and picked it up.  

"Ano…I saw that one first."  Reiko said politely.  The guy looked at her and smiled.  "Oh is that so?  Here you go cutie."  He gave the ball back to her.  

"Arigatou."  She turned around to walk back to her bowling lane.  

"Not so fast."  The guy grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around looking into her brown eyes.  "What's a cutie like you doing in a place like this?  Why don't we go off and do some karaoke?"  The guy's friend came by.  "Hey Sanada, you picked out a really cute one.  Come on girl, how about we all have some fun someplace else?"

Reiko smiled and shrugged off the hand that was on your shoulder.  "No thanks.  I came here to bowl with a friend.  Excuse me."  She started to walk off.  

"You think we're going to let you go so easily?"  The other guy named Hiro replied.  Reiko turned around.  She would have liked to smack the guys, but noticed that they were about late high school age and pretty tough looking, not exactly the type she'd want to mess with.  _"Of all people to try hit on me."_  

"Rei-chan is something wrong?"  Reiko turned back and saw Oishi walking towards her.  He saw the two older guys and knew something was up.  "Will you guys excuse us?  We're going to go bowl a game."  

"Oh?  The kawaii girl has a boyfriend?  You look pretty weak."  Hiro grabbed Oishi's arm and looked Oishi straight in the eye.  "Won't you let us take your girlfriend out for a spin?" 

Oishi had a pissed off angry look.  These guys were hitting on Reiko!  But in the back of his mind, he knew that fighting them would mean trouble and he didn't want to sink to their level.  He shook off the hand that grabbed him and was about to say something when Reiko cut in. 

"Now now…it's not right to fight in a place like this.  This is a bowling alley.  How about we play a match?"

The two guys looked at each other.  "I guess we could play another game.  So what's the catch?"  One of the guys replied.

"Let's have a two-on-two match.  Each of us will bowl our own game.  If your combined scores are higher than ours, then I'll give in to whatever you want.  However, if ours is higher, then you guys have to stop bothering us."

"Um…could you excuse us for a moment."  Oishi grabbed Reiko's arm and pulled her off to the side.  

"Rei-chan what the hell are you doing?!"  Oishi looked at Reiko with a frustrated but worried look.  Yanagizawa was one thing, but these older guys looked like they could seriously hurt Reiko.  Oishi wasn't going to let her be in a situation where he couldn't help her, let alone protect her.  

"Relax Syu-kun.  Please hear me out."  Reiko whispered something into Oishi's ear.  Oishi glanced at something nearby then nodded in agreement with Reiko.  The two then walked back towards the older guys.  "Alright…" Oishi replied.  "Do you agree with our offer?"  

The two older guys laughed.  "You kids are going to challenge us?  This will be a cinch!"  The guys walked back to their lane.  They erased the scores of their old game and started up a new one.  Oishi and Reiko were in the lane next to them getting ready to bowl.  

"What the hell is Oishi thinking?!" Eiji exclaimed.  The 4 Seigaku regulars from above saw the entire situation.  "How could he give in to something like that?"  

"This looks bad."  Kawamura said nervously.  "Those guys look pretty tough.  Maybe we should call for help."

Fuji and Inui looked on and remained silent.

"Fuji!" Eiji yelled.  "We should stop them!  Reiko-chan and Oishi are in trouble!  What if they lose?  I'm going to go down there."  Eiji got up from his seat.  

"Matte." Fuji replied.  "I think Oishi and Reiko know something that we don't know."

"Like what?"

"Just watch."  Fuji's blue eyes were open with an interested look.  "I think we'll see shortly."

CRASH!

 Hiro bowled and scored a 9.  His friend Sanada scored an 8.  "Heh…not bad.  This will be an easy win."  They looked over to Oishi's and Reiko's side to see how they were doing.  Oishi threw the bowling ball down the lane quickly and the ball curved directly at the center pin.  

CRASH!

Both guys just stared with blank looks in their faces.  Oishi just hit a strike.  "Probably just luck." The guys said to each other.  Reiko was about to bowl and the guys just laughed.  Reiko was using the marble green 7lb bowling ball from earlier and they thought that Reiko wouldn't be able to hit anything with such a light ball.  "Hey cutie!  Try not to throw a gutter ball!"  You would think Oishi be pretty pissed about hearing them talk about Reiko like that.  However, he was sitting down remaining pretty calm.  Reiko held the ball in her right hand and tossed the ball down the lane.  The ball had a slight spin on it and it curved to the right side.  Right before it hit the pins, the ball curved back towards the center.  

CRASH!

Both guys almost gagged.  Reiko just hit a strike.  "That looked like a nice gutter ball to me.  Except it hit all 10 pins!" Reiko said with a smirk.  

Oishi got up and gave Reiko a high-five.  "Looks like you haven't lost your touch." 

"Neither have you Syu-kun.  Looks like this will be a tough match for me to win."

"What the hell?" The older guys thought.  Then Hiro noticed something.  "Hey Sanada, look at what they're wearing."  They both looked and a shocked look came upon their faces.  "Professional bowling gloves?!" The guys exclaimed.  Both Oishi and Reiko were wearing a bowling glove on their hand.  "Crap!" Both of them didn't expect the two to be bowling fans.  The older guys then realized this was going to be tough match for them.  (A/N:  If you were wondering, the glove was the "it" they brought along in their bags)

"Hey Inui."  Fuji asked Inui, who looked up from his notebook.  "I think I heard this a while back, but wasn't Oishi known as the 'Prince of Bowling'?" (A/N:  Don't know if that is exactly true or not ^_^;)

"Nani?!" Eiji and Kawamura exclaimed.  

Inui flipped some pages.  "Now that you mentioned it, that does sound familiar."  

"Wait a sec…if Oishi's that good bowling, and Reiko is playing a match against them…doesn't that mean…?"  Eiji asked trying to put the pieces together. 

"But wait…why did they accept the match so easily?"  Kawamura asked.  

"The two guys recently finished a match."  Inui answered.  "Reiko saw their scores and noticed it wasn't good enough to beat their usual scores."  

"That's why Oishi accepted so easily.  Not only were they going to beat the two guys, but they would also settle their promise, which was a bowling match."  Eiji concluded.  

The bowling game soon came to an end.  The Hiro/Sanada team score was 205 and Reiko/Oishi team score was 420.  Reiko's individual score was 205 while Oishi's score was 215.  

"Well Syu-kun…looks like you finally beat me and kept to your promise."  

"Arigatou.  You played a pretty good game yourself Rei-chan."  They gave each other another high-five.

Reiko and Oishi completely ignored the two guys during their game since they were so caught up trying to beat each other's score.  Hiro looked at them and got very pissed.  It was true that they lost the match, but they ended up losing miserably and made fools of themselves.  He wasn't going to let them get away so easy.  

Hiro ran up to Oishi and tried to attack by punching him in the face.  Oishi would have never expected it.  

Reiko saw it coming at the corner of her eye.  She quickly pushed Oishi out of the way and took the hit.  Her reflexes were fast enough to block the punch with her arms.  However, the impact was so strong that she fell backwards and hit the back of her head on a table nearby.   Reiko's brown eyes closed and her body for a moment became lifeless as she fell to the ground with a thud.  The incident happened so fast.  Oishi had the most petrified look on his face.  _"Oh god no…"_

"Rei-chan!" Oishi exclaimed in shock.  He kneeled next to her and placed Reiko in his arms. "Rei-chan! Are you okay?  Please open your eyes!"  Reiko woke up suddenly and rubbed her head.  "Augh…what the hell? That hurt!"  She looked up at Oishi's worried face.  "I'm fine Syu-kun.  Are you alright?" Oishi then had a flustered look.  "Baka!  Why did you push me out of the way and get hurt?!"  She lightly touched his face with her hand and smiled.  "I wanted to protect you.  I didn't want to see you hurt…" Reiko's vision began to blur.  Her brown eyes closed again and she fell unconscious in Oishi's arms.  "Rei-chan?  Kuso!  Rei-chan!" He then held onto her tightly. _"Why did you do that?  You don't have to be strong and protect me…"_

Sanada tried to calm Hiro down but he resisted.  

"You little brats!" Hiro said furiously.  "How dare you make fun of us!  Such a pity she took your hit.  Oh well, I would have taken care of her afterwards." Hiro brought out a pocketknife.  

"Crap!  This looks bad!" Eiji said to the three Seigaku regulars that saw what had happened.  He jumped out of his chair.  "I'm going to go help Oishi out."

"But what can we do?  They're too strong for us!"  Kawamura said in a panic.

"Oishi."  Fuji had on a serious look.  He saw Oishi place Reiko gently on the ground and stood up in front of her facing his opponent.  Oishi was enraged and was clenching his fists.  Someone had hurt his Rei-chan and he wasn't going to let anyone get away with it.  Oishi knew he had no chance against Hiro with a knife and that fighting was wrong, but if he could protect Reiko, that was all that mattered to him.  _"Baka Rei-chan.  Seeing you hurt brings me more pain." _He thought back on the times he wasn't there to protect her when she was bullied on the team and her mom's passing.  Never again was he going to let anyone, nor anything hurt Reiko.  Oishi readied himself in a defense position.  "_Whatever happens here on, I'll protect you forever!  Even if it cost me my life!"_

"Looks like I'll take you down as well!" Hiro grinned and ran up to Oishi attacking him with his pocketknife.  Just when Hiro was about to make contact…

"HORA HORA!  MOZURE BURNING!"

"What the…?" Hiro exclaimed.

Running down the stairs was a fired up Kawamura.  In his right hand he held a racket and was running straight towards Hiro and Sanada.  

"HOW DARE YOU HIT A GIRL! I SHALL BRING JUSTICE!"  

"Holy crap!"  Both guys said.  They ran away with a pissed off Kawamura running behind them.  

"That was close." Inui said in relief.  "Good thinking Kikumaru."  Eiji smiled and gave a victory sign.  He had taken out a racket from his tennis bag and placed it into Kawamura's hand right before Hiro was going to attack.    

Oishi breathed a sign of relief.  He then remembered Reiko and ran down next to her.  He shook her lightly.  "Rei-chan, are you alright?"  Reiko woke up a little dazed and blinked a few times.  "What happened?  I remember getting hit but…" Oishi hugged her.  "Its alright Rei-chan.  You had a small concussion.  I'm glad you're fine."  

"Hey! Oishi!  Reiko-chan!"  Both looked up to see Eiji up there hollering their names and waving. "Are you guys alright?!" 

"Eiji-kun!" Reiko exclaimed.  She stood up and waved back.  "We're fine! What are you doing here?"  (A/N:  Reiko has a very fast recovery rate)

"Eh…" Eiji blushed.  He couldn't say they were following them.  He tried to think up a legitimate excuse.  "Um…well…you see…"

"We came to bowl as well."  Fuji cut in.  "Right Eiji?"  Eiji just nodded in agreement.  

"Oh I see.  How about we all play a game together?" Reiko suggested.  

"That sounds fun."  Inui replied.  "I've actually never bowled before."

"Alright then.  But first, let's wait till Taka-san comes back."  Fuji pointed at Kawamura who was still chasing after the two guys.  Everyone laughed.  

Oishi looked at Reiko who was joining in on the laughter.  He thought back on the moment when he saw her fall to the ground.  A scary thought at that time went through his head.  "_Thank god.  For a moment there I thought I had lost you forever.  I'm glad that you're alright."_

"Syu-kun."  

Oishi who was lost in thought broke out and turned to Reiko.  "What is it Rei-chan?"

"Let's all play a game together."

Oishi smiled and nodded.  

After Kawamura chased the two guys away, Oishi introduced Reiko to Kawamura and Inui.  Some misinterpretations were settled, which left Eiji turning red for having thought of such things.  Eiji however was relieved to know that Reiko was not Oishi's girlfriend but his childhood friend.  All six of them:  Oishi, Reiko, Eiji, Kawamura, Fuji, and Inui then went to go bowl a game.    

Back at the street tennis courts…

"Game Set Fuji/Echizen pair 6-3." 

Fuji Yuuta and Ryoma both shook each other's hand.

"I can't believe we lost again!" Both Kamio and Momoshiro yelled at each other.  "It's all your fault!"

"Mada mada dane."

To be cont.  

(A/N:  I hope you enjoyed this one.  Second promise was revealed and it happened to be bowling!  I found out in a later episode/manga that Oishi is really good at bowling so I decided to incorporate it in.  I hope this wasn't too sappy.  I actually have one more chapter planned and depending on how people like it, I might continue or do a sequel.  Please give reviews or email as always.  I appreciate every single one of them. )

Preview:  Mother of Seigaku.  This is my chapter that contains my version on how Oishi developed his caring personality (which I truly adore).  It will be tragic but heartwarming.  Oh and if you remember…the incident mentioned back in chapter 2 will finally be revealed.  Sorry for keeping it off for so long.  


	8. Mother of Seigaku

(A/N:  Thank you once again for reading my first fanfic.  The reviews meant a lot to me.  There was never really a straight Oishi fanfic out there. (Shorti-chan story was probably the closest one I ever found.)  I hope I did a good job making one for him.  This will be the last chapter for now.   I did my best to incorporate this chapter to fit who his character is. XD.  Anyways, on with the story!)

To Jen-chan:  I have ideas to continue the story, but if I can get at least 5 people to reply to me saying they like the story and want it continued then I will write more.  That many people would motivate me to continue. (okay by now I did get 5, but I still decided to continue on free will.)  

To hoshi-star:  Thanks for the review.  Anyways…it was Fuji Syusuke, one of the Seigaku regulars that were with Reiko and Oishi at the bowling alley.  It was Fuji Yuuta, Syusuke's younger brother that was at the street tennis courts with everyone else.  I hope that explained it.   

Disclaimer:  All rights to PoT/Tenipuri belong to Konomi Takeshi.  Reiko and all other characters I make up belong to me.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

_Oishi opened his eyes.  He noticed he was standing alone on a deserted beach just before sunrise.  The cool ocean breeze made his skin tingle and he could hear the tall palm trees in the distance rustle.  The brown sand beneath his feet felt warm and soft.  He took a deep breath and allowed the cool salty breeze to enter in, which gave him a very relaxed feeling.  Oishi loved the ocean and he enjoyed swimming.  He walked towards the water and felt the cold, clear waters rush around his feet.  For a moment, he felt he was in the most peaceful relaxing world.  _

_Suddenly, he noticed a small purple bucket wash upon the shore.  A frightening chill ran down his spine, for seeing that purple bucket actually brought back a long forgotten memory.  _

_"Rei-chan?"  Oishi looked around the beach and saw no one present.  He quickly ran through the water.  "Rei-chan?" He kept calling and frantically went deeper into the water looking above and below searching for her.  Still…he found no one.  All of a sudden, he saw something in the distance and the most horrified shocked look came upon his face.  He swam frantically over there and reached out his hand.  _ 

"REI-CHAN!"

Oishi woke up and realized that he had yelled her name.  He blinked a few times and saw that his hand was reaching out to grab something.  It was still the middle of the night and he was sweating and breathing sporadically.  Once he realized it was just a nightmare, he took a few slow deep breaths to calm himself down.  

"Kuso.  Not again."

Chapter 8:  Mother of Seigaku

"SEIGAKU!  FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"  All the 1st year members yelled.  It was the start of another day of afternoon tennis practice.  The regulars and all the 2nd and 3rd year members were on the courts practicing various tennis shots.  Some of the regulars had buckets of tennis balls and were hitting balls to the players on the opposite side.  They would hit a few balls to each member and then the next person would come up and hit.  The 1st year members were running around collecting tennis balls.  

"Next" Oishi yelled.  He hit a tennis ball to the forehand, backhand, and then a lob, which the member was to smash.  Oishi had just hit a ball to the backhand of the next member when the guy suddenly tripped and fell to the ground cutting his knee.  

"Ah Yomura!" Oishi ran over to the other side of the court.  "Are you alright?  I'm sorry for hitting it too wide." Yomura, a second year student, just smiled and got up.  "Its alright Oishi-sempai, I'm fine.  Just a few scrapes on my leg."  Oishi had a worried look.  "Are you sure?  I could accompany you to the nurse.  I'm really sorry for making you trip."  Yomura shook his head.  "Don't worry Oishi-sempai, I can walk there by myself.  Please continue with practice."  Yomura then walked off the courts.  From a distance, Eiji and Inui were watching the situation.  

"Wah…Oishi is way too nice sometimes."  Eiji said to Inui.  Both of them were waiting for their turns to hit.  

"That's why he's called the 'Mother of Seigaku', his worries are different from ours.  He's ten times more concern then we'd normally be and he worries for everyone on the team."  

"Sometimes though I wonder why."  Eiji asked curiously.  "Oh well, I guess that's just how he is."  Eiji saw it was his turn and went up.  

After a little bit of practice was done.  Tezuka had all the regulars pair up and rally against each other.  The regulars were playing with all their specialty moves.  Momoshiro did a dunk smash, but it was countered by Fuji's Higuma Otoshi.  Inui was using his data tennis to calculate where Kikumaru would use his acrobatic plays.  Oishi saw Ryoma come to the net to attempt a Drive B so he countered with a Moon Volley.  Kawamura was fired up and was hitting his shots with great power.  Kaidoh was practicing his boomerang snake.  Tezuka, who was to be on leave to Germany in a week or so, was standing to the side of the court.  All the other members stood outside the court and watched in awe as they saw how strong their regulars were.  

From a distance, there was a girl outside of the courts who was watching the entire practice.   Reiko watched all the regulars and stood in amazement.  _"Wow…the boy's tennis team is really good.  So much intensity in the way they play."_  She remembered the game she played with Oishi the previous week.  Reiko looked at her hand and clenched her fist.   _"I wish I could play more games like that."_  She then continued to watch the boy's tennis practice.  

Boy's practice soon came to an end.  "Practice dismissed!  Be careful of injuries."  Tezuka yelled.  All the members left to go change in the clubroom.  As Eiji was leaving the tennis courts, he saw Reiko standing nearby outside the courts.  "Hey Reiko-chan."  Eiji ran up to her.  "What are you doing here?"

"Girls practice today was really short so I thought I take a look and see how you guys were doing.  You played really well Eiji-kun.  I was very fascinated by your acrobatic moves."

Eiji blushed a little and rubbed his nose upon hearing the compliment.  "Hehe…Arigatou Reiko-chan.  Ne…Are you busy this evening?"

Reiko nodded.  "Yup.  I'm going over to Oishi's place after practice since his parents invited me over for dinner.  It's been a while since I've last seen them."

"Oh I see."  Eiji was a little down upon hearing that, but didn't think too much on it since Oishi and Reiko were old friends and knew each other's parents.  "Oh yeah, we're still meeting up tomorrow after practice right?"

"Of course.  I'll be needing your help and thanks for giving me your time." 

 Eiji just shook his head.  "Don't be.  I'm just glad you asked.  Well I better go change now so I'll see you tomorrow."  Eiji waved and ran to the clubroom to change.  

"Tomorrow?"  Reiko turned around and saw Oishi.  "Hi Syu-kun.  I'm meeting up with Eiji-kun tomorrow after practice and he's going to take me to the local pet shop.  Mika-chan's birthday is coming up soon and she really wanted to get a rabbit.  I heard that Eiji-kun goes to the pet shop often so I asked him to help me out with some things."

"Oh I see."  Oishi realized he was still in his Seigaku tennis uniform and that he hasn't changed yet.  "Ah gomen.  Let me go change and then we'll go back to my place."  Oishi ran to the clubroom.  He proceeded to change quickly back into his school clothes.  

"Tanaka-san is a really interesting girl."  Oishi was startled by the comment and turned to see that it was Fuji who made the remark.  "Oh hey Fuji.  Um…yeah I know Rei-chan is interesting."  

"Do you like her?"   Fuji asked curiously.  Oishi blushed upon hearing that question.  "Well...I don't know.  We've just recently met again.   She's kawaii and we're good friends… I tend to keep a look out for her."

Fuji then leaned over and whispered into Oishi's ear.  "She appears quite naïve about such things.  If you don't realize it soon, you might let her slip away."   Oishi was puzzled about what Fuji just said. "Realize what?"  Oishi said in confusion.  Fuji smiled.  "_Even Oishi can be naïve."_  "Never mind.  I'll see you later."  Fuji picked up his stuff and left the clubroom, leaving Oishi the last person in there.  Oishi pondered about what Fuji just said.  He then realized he left Reiko waiting outside so he finished changing and locked up the clubroom.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Oishi and Reiko walked towards his house.  The sun was setting and the sky was a bright orange-red color.  For most the walk, both of them were quiet as they walked side by side along the hard concrete street.  Soon, they passed by a small park that contained a few metal swings, a small metal slide, a large sandbox and a few red wooden benches.  Reiko stopped walking upon noticing that she saw a young boy and girl around 5-6 years of age playing in the large sandbox.  Oishi stopped as well and they both looked on at the two kids playing in the sandbox.  

"Yuki-kun! That was mean!  Please get that away from me!"  The girl squealed as the boy tried to tease her with a small cricket that he recently caught nearby.  

"What's wrong with a little bug Maya-chan?  This will be perfect for guarding the sandcastle we just made" The boy placed the small cricket on a mound of sand next to the girl.  The cricket jumped toward her causing the little girl to cry.  The boy then patted her on the shoulder.  "I'm sorry Maya-chan.  I didn't mean to make you cry.  See…the bug is gone." 

The little girl opened her eyes and looked into they boy's eyes which showed a sense of reassurance.  She looked around and noticed the small cricket was gone.  "Sniff sniff…Arigatou Yuki-kun."  The two kids heard someone call their names and both of the kids quickly ran off.  Reiko and Oishi then walked over to the large sandbox where the two kids were playing.  

"Looking at those two kids…reminded me of how we were when we were little.  You used to tease me a lot just like that little boy did."

"It was fun teasing you.  But of course I always stopped when I saw you start to cry." Oishi thought back on the times when they were little kids.  He recalled when they played in the park, took tennis lessons together, had sleepovers, and walked to school.  They both did many things together when they were young.  Now it was many years later and they had grown up.  "Wow…time does go by fast."  

"Huh?"  Reiko noticed that they left something in the sandbox.  "The two kids must have left this.  I don't think they ran off too far so I'm going to try return this to them.  Please wait for me."  She picked up a small purple bucket in the sandbox and ran off quickly in the direction where the two little kids ran off.  

Oishi noticed the small purple bucket that Reiko had picked up.  Suddenly, a frightening chill went down Oishi's spine.  It was that same uneasy feeling he had in that dream before.  His body started to feel tense and a queasy feeling began to lurk inside him.  The little kids, the sandcastle, and the small purple bucket all brought back a chilling memory.  His head began to feel a little dizzy so he sat down on one of the nearby wooden benches.  Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead as he tried to calm his mind down.  

"Syu-kun?"  Oishi looked and saw that Reiko was staring at him.  He didn't even notice that she had walked back recently and been watching Oishi for some time. "You don't look so good.  Want to tell me what's wrong?"  Oishi just smiled.  "I'm fine Rei-chan."  Reiko walked towards him and placed her face a few inches away from his.  Oishi blushed and turned his head.  "Rei-chan, what are you doing?"

"Baka."  Reiko said.  "You aren't good at hiding things that worry you."  She sat on the bench next to Oishi.  "Why don't you tell me?  You have nothing to hide from me."  Oishi was unsure of what to do.  He really wanted to tell her, but was scared as to how she'd react.  He looked at her nervously and saw that she had a worried look in her brown eyes.  Oishi then decided that now would be the best time to say it since they were alone and if he didn't say it now, the problem would bother him later on.  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  

"Rei-chan…do you still have a fear of water?"  

Oishi looked at her upon seeing how she would react to his question.  Reiko had turned her head away from him.  Her bangs covered her eyes so he couldn't tell how she was feeling.  A guilty feeling ran through him.  _"Crap…I should have never mentioned it."  _He wasn't sure what to say to ease the awkward silent moment.  "Rei-chan I…"

"Sometimes."  Reiko looked at Oishi and smiled.  "I took swimming lessons a few times in America.  I was able to get through it…but there are some days where I…" She stopped short upon seeing Oishi with a very depressed look.  "Hey Syu-kun, what's wrong.  Was it something I said?"  Reiko placed her arm around his back and Oishi leaned himself next to her, resting his head on her shoulder. 

 "Rei-chan…I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"  

"Sorry…that I didn't protect you that time."  Oishi closed his eyes and thought back on the incident:

*flashback*

The Oishi you see now was way different from when he was before.  Like most little boys, he liked to tease.  When he befriended Reiko, they became good friends and did many activities together.  He liked to pick on her, but she didn't mind at all.  They went to school together and were in the same class every year till Reiko left for America.  

One summer (they were around 6-7 years of age), their school went on a trip to the beach.  Oishi was really excited since he loved the ocean and all sorts of things that dealt with water.  Reiko at the time had never been to the ocean before so she was pretty excited as well.   Both of them were attempting to build a sandcastle.  They needed water for a moat they just built so Reiko took a small purple bucket she had brought along and ran down to the waters.  The tide that day was pretty high, but none of them thought twice about it.  Oishi's head was turned away from the ocean as he was busy working on the sandcastle.  After a while, he noticed that Reiko didn't come back.  

_"Geez…what's taking Rei-chan so long?"_  Oishi got up and walked around trying to find her.  He thought that maybe she went to pick up some shells lying around on the beach.  He then noticed a small purple bucket wash upon the shore.  Oishi picked it up and realized that Reiko had brought a purple bucket.  An uneasy feeling went through him.  He ran toward the water and swam around.  "Rei-chan?" he called repeatedly.  _"Where could she have gone?" _

Suddenly, a group of people that were not too far from him was in a commotion.  He heard something about finding a girl floating in the water.  Oishi was scared.  _Oh no…please let it not be her." _An adult brought the girl to shore and proceeded with CPR. An ambulance was quickly called and used more advanced technology to save the girl.  Oishi ran over and saw his teacher talking with some of the medical group.  His classmates were scattered around wondering what was going on.  He squeezed his way through the crowd to see who the girl was.  After catching a glint of who was on the stretcher, he fell to his knees.  "Rei-chan…"

Reiko barely survived her near drown experience and had to stay in the hospital for a week.  Reiko and Oishi were both scarred from the incident.  As the years went by and they separated, the incident faded from their memory and they went on with their normal lives trying to forget what had happened.  However since Reiko's return, Oishi began having vision of that incident again, leaving a large sense of guilt and regret.  

*end of flashback* 

"If only I wasn't so stupid back then I would have watched over you more carefully.  Rei-chan, please forgive me for what I've done to you." 

Reiko leaned her head next to his.  "Syu-kun, please don't be like this.  You've done nothing wrong so don't live in regret anymore."

"But I have to!"  Oishi exclaimed.  He gripped both her shoulders and looked at her with intense eyes.  "Its because I was stupid that you almost died!  It's truly all my fault that I did this to you!"  

Reiko looked at him with a calm attitude.  "You really don't understand anything do you?"  Oishi just stood their confused as to what Reiko said.  "I don't understand what you mean."

"Haven't you realized anything?  Back then you didn't know I never learned how to swim and we were just children. It's true that we both were hurt by this incident, but it happened for a reason."  Reiko smiled and continued talking.  "Do you remember, what you said in the hospital?"  Oishi shook his head.  "I thought you probably wouldn't remember since you were crying like mad at the time.  Anyways…I remember waking up in bed and I saw you crying next to me.  You said that you'd promise to watch out and protect me from here on.  And since you've made that promise, you've done that.  Wherever we went, you would always keep a guard on me and protect me from harm's way.  You would get antsy when I played guys in tennis since you worried they'd hurt me.  Even when I left, you still kept to that promise.  Not only to me, but to all the other people you cared for."  

Reiko leaned next to him.  "I knew it when I saw you care for the guy injured on the court today.  You worry so much and are willing to protect everyone.  No wonder people call you the 'Mother of Seigaku'.  Everyone on the team respects you Syu-kun.  I believe, that if the incident never happened, you'd probably never be the sweet guy you are today.  So please, have no more regrets on this incident and don't carry this pain anymore."  

Oishi was shocked by what Reiko had just said.  He never realized it like that, yet it all made perfect sense.  The regret that was paining his heart was slowly being lifted.  He smiled and gave Reiko a hug.  "Thanks for making me understand Rei-chan."  

"That's what friends are for Syu-kun."  Reiko smiled.  She leaned in and kissed Oishi lightly on the cheek.  

Oishi turned a ruby red.  "Rei-chan!"  He exclaimed and turned his head away.  "W…Why did you do that?"  He placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart was beating excitedly.   Never before has a girl ever kissed him.  

Reiko giggled.  "Its better seeing you like that then all depressed.  Seeing you sad bugs me and you really shouldn't worry a lot Syu-kun.  But then again, I guess that's just how you are."  She looked at the time.  "Ah it's getting late!  You're mom must be worried and I'm getting hungry, so let's go!"  Reiko grabbed Oishi's hand and pulled him off the bench.  

A few thoughts went through his head as he walked out of the park.  He thought about what Fuji had told him earlier:  _"She appears quite naïve about such things.  If you don't realize it soon, you might let her slip away."_  Perhaps Fuji was right.  She did seem quite naïve about such feelings.  He took a glance at her, watching her cheerful personality as she held his hand.  Then again, he himself was not sure what feelings ran through his head at the time Reiko kissed him.  Oishi smiled and decided not to dwell on it too much.  "_I think for now, its better we let time figure out what the future holds for us.  Perhaps one day I'll understand what these feelings are and someday will be able to tell you."  _

Both Oishi and Reiko walked back to his house hand in hand.  

Owari. (End of the childhood promise part) 

(A/N:  Oh I hope that was convincing.  Sorry if you didn't like it (sakura2814 runs to hide under a rock to avoid bashing).  I tried my best!  Please review or email.  I greatly appreciate feedback)

Important as of 8/29:  There is now a Part 2 of the story.  You can stop here if you'd like or continue on!  ^_^


	9. Old and New Situations

(A/N: Okay, I've done it! I have finally continued this story!  After thinking about this for the last month, the idea would not leave my head till this story goes on.  I seriously have no clue where this will go, but I have ideas.  All I can say is…I need to give Oishi some justice!  Some people don't like Oishi and even hate him for being with Eiji ("cough" oniichan "cough").  I like Oishi in a straight and shounen-ai way.  Since I'm adding to the straight stories, this is just my dedication to him in the straight way.  Thanks to the reviewers and everyone who reads this.  Please continue to support! I hope you won't be disappointed.  I'm going to make this the second part of the story.)

Disclaimer:  I think you already know.  If not, refer to previous chapters.  I own Reiko…so don't steal her.  

Timeline:  Well, we know Tezuka is leaving.  I've seen up to episode 80 and I know what happens after, so I apologize if there are small spoilers.  

Italics mean the person's thoughts.

Title:  Yakusoku o Mamoru (To keep one's promise)

Part II:  Promises of the Present

Genre:  Romance/Drama

It's been a week since Tezuka has left for Germany.  The boy's tennis team now under substitute captain Oishi has continued to remain strong.  Seigaku had recently competed against Jousei in the next round of the Kantou tournament with Seigaku coming out victorious.  Their road to the Nationals was getting closer.  

Reiko had recently found out that Oishi's wrist was still in the healing process when he played during the Jousei match. (Recall that he injured his wrist before the Hyotei match)  That didn't bode very well for her, for that meant that Oishi didn't play his fullest during their match a few weeks before.  Reiko was not as strong as most guys, which was probably why Oishi's wrist did not get affected much when they played.  She decided to accept the win, but hoped for another match with Oishi when his wrist was fully healed.  It wouldn't be for a while before that would happen.  

Since taking over as captain, Oishi had become much more busy and rarely had any time to hang out with Reiko.  Reiko had also been busy, for she was competing in the girl's ranking tournament.  She had also started to mingle and become friends with some of the girls in the tennis club.  Both of them lead their own busy lives, but were able to chat a few times a week during lunch break.  Life in a way did resume back to normal.  However, that can only go for so long…

Chapter 9:  Old and New Situations

"Ittekimasu!" Reiko exclaimed as she ran out the front door.  She skipped down the sidewalk happily as she went to school.   There was no morning practice today, for the girl's tennis club had recently finished the ranking tournament.  Reiko was excited that she had finally become a regular and would be able to play other schools when matches came around.  In the ranking's match, she managed to finish with 4 wins and 1 lost.  Her only lost came from the girl's captain.  Upon losing to the captain, she realized she'd have to train harder in order for her to beat Oishi in a fair match.  She knew it wouldn't be till after the boy's team went to the Nationals. She didn't mind, for she planned to practice hard till that time came around.  

Reiko reached school and walked to her shoebox to change into her school shoes.  She opened up the shoebox and about half a dozen letters fell out onto the ground.  She picked up one of them and opened it up.  Reiko giggled at what was written.  Like most girls, she started to receive love letters from guys at her class level.  Most the other girls she talked with in the tennis club also received love letters.  Some of the letters had the person's name while others didn't.  Although letters were flattering, Reiko felt she didn't have time for a relationship nor knew any of the guys very well so she would turn each of them down politely. 

Reiko then picked up another letter off the ground.  This one was very plain with her name written on it very neatly.   She opened it up and started to read.  The cheerful expression on her face faded as she continued to read the letter.  

_"Crap. I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this again.   If its not one thing, its always something else."_  

As she finished the letter, she notice that there was no name given as to who sent it. She looked up and around, wondering if there was anyone watching her.  No one was around, but the feeling of nervousness would not leave.  Her hands started to shake uncontrollably and she suddenly dropped the letter.  A tense look appeared on her face as she crouched down to pick up the letter she dropped and the other letters that fell out of her shoebox.  As she was picking them up, she saw another hand help her gather the letters.  She looked up to see who was helping her.  As she saw the person's face, her expression quickly changed back into a friendly smile.  

"Fuji-kun.  Ohayou."  Reiko replied cheerfully.  

"Ohayou as well Reiko-san."  Fuji smiled back. 

"Did you just come back from morning tennis practice?"

He nodded.  _"Is it just me…or did I see a worried expression on Reiko's face when I came?"_  

Fuji picked up the rest of the letters and handed it back to Reiko.  "Thank you Fuji-kun.  Well I better be off."  She started to walk away.

"Chotto Matte."

"Hm?"  Reiko turned around quickly.  

"You haven't changed your shoes yet."  Fuji pointed at Reiko's shoes.  She noticed that she was still in her normal shoes and hadn't changed into her school shoes.  Reiko giggled in embarrassment and walked back to her shoebox to change her shoes.    Fuji waited around till she was done.  

"I better get going to class then."  Reiko attempted to dash away quickly.

"Um…Reiko-san?"

"What is it Fuji-kun?"

"Since we're in the same class, wouldn't you rather walk together?"

Reiko lightly smacked her head in embarrassment.  "Haha…why didn't I realize that!  Of course!"  Both of them started walking towards their class.  Fuji was observing Reiko as they were walking.  _"Hm…I think I was right earlier.  Something seems to be bothering her.  I wonder what it is?"_

"Um…Fuji-kun?"

"Hm?"  Fuji did his trademark smile.

"I guess it would be rude for me to ask you this, but I don't see Syu-kun often and I haven't been here that long.  You seem to know him pretty well since you've been to the same school for a while and played together in the tennis club."  Reiko was sort of unsure if she should ask.  

"What do you need to ask me Reiko-san?"  Fuji gave her a reassuring look.  He was very curious as to what Reiko was going to ask.

"Do you know if Syu-kun has a girlfriend?"

Fuji's blue eyes widened upon hearing that question.  That was one of the few questions he didn't expect Reiko to ask him.  He wondered in the back of his mind why she asked that.  "From what I know, he doesn't appear to have one."  Fuji replied with a puzzled look.  

"Oh I see."  Reiko responded with a confused look.  

"Hm…do you like Oishi?"  Fuji asked curiously. 

Reiko nodded and smiled back.  "Of course I like Syu-kun."  

From the response Reiko gave, it didn't seem like she was referring to the same 'like' that Fuji was thinking about.  He decided to ask another question to verify that.  "Eh really?  Is that why you wanted to know if Oishi has a girlfriend?"  

Reiko shook her head.  She took out the letter she was reading earlier and showed it to Fuji.  "I wanted to ask because of this."  Fuji read the letter and his blue eyes widened.  He realized then why Reiko had the worried expression when he first saw her.  Fuji read to the bottom of the letter and turned it over.  "Eh?  No name?  That's quite cowardly to leave a message like this without a name."  Fuji smiled and handed the letter back to Reiko.  "Don't worry.  I think it's probably because you interact with Oishi better than most girls do.  As for the name, I think I have a way to find that out."

Reiko smiled back as thanks.  In the back of her mind, she had many reasons to worry. She knew what would be coming later.  

Class was about to begin, so they hurried to their classroom 3-6.  As they were to enter in, Reiko lightly tugged on Fuji's sleeve. This caused Fuji to stop and turn around.  

"What's wrong Reiko-san?"

"Whatever I just told you…please don't tell Syu-kun."

"No problem.  Any reason why?"

"I think you know the reason already." Reiko then walked into the classroom.  Fuji stood there for a moment.  A smile appeared on his face again.  It was then he found that Reiko had become a much more interesting person.  _"And yes I do know the reason."_

Fuji walked into the classroom.  Reiko was turned around in her seat talking to Eiji in a cheerful manner.  Eiji was excitedly telling her about how he avoided Inui's drink at morning practice when he beat out Kaidoh in a regular's match up.  Fuji sat in his seat and joined in on the conversation.  He casually watched Reiko's personality, noticing how it was slightly different from when they were talking earlier.  There was a lot more to Reiko than what was shown…and Fuji was curious to find out.

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Lunchtime came around.  Reiko left quickly, for she couldn't join Eiji and Fuji at lunch because she had a meeting with the girl's regulars.  Eiji moved over to Fuji's desk and they both ate lunch together.  Fuji noticed that Eiji looked a little down.  "Ne…Eiji.  Is something wrong?" 

"Nothing much..." Eiji looked out the window as he replied.  "Hey Fuji.  I was wondering…do you know if Oishi likes Reiko?"

Fuji blue eyes filled with interest.  "Why are you asking me?  Shouldn't you be asking Oishi this?"

"I've been thinking it over for a while, if I should ask Oishi or not.  I noticed that Reiko and Oishi don't hang out very much.  However, the few times they do they're really connected.  I've never seen Oishi act so friendly and normal with a girl before.  Since he knows her, I wanted to ask him before I made a move.  If he does like her, I'd most likely back away for his sake…though I really don't want to.  I think I'm just scared of what he'd say."  Eiji closed his eyes and let out a big sigh.  

Fuji looked at Eiji, wondering what to say.  It was quite interesting that Fuji was in the middle of the situation.  He knew that Oishi liked Reiko, but he wasn't sure of his feelings.  Reiko appeared plain naïve on the whole situation.  And now…Eiji has developed feelings for Reiko.   Fuji just couldn't help but smile at the position he was in.   However, as much as he would like to see people suffer, this wasn't something that he would like to see go wrong.   

"Remember that Oishi has known Reiko for some time before, which is why he acts normal around her.  I think, since you consider Oishi your best friend, you should ask him.  Oishi is an understanding person so he'll answer you truthfully." 

Eiji paused in silence as he thought over what Fuji said.  "I think I will do that." 

Meanwhile at the tennis courts during lunch, Oishi and Momoshiro were practicing.  With Tezuka gone, Momoshiro easily took back a regular spot.  Oishi was glad to have Momoshiro back as a regular.  He helped Momoshiro practice his shots and smashes so that he'd be ready to play in the next match.

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Lunchtime was coming to an end, so Oishi and Momoshiro walked off the court.  As they were going to the clubroom to change, a girl walked up to Oishi, asking if she could talk with him.  Momoshiro nudged Oishi in the side and gave him a large grin as he hurried off to the clubroom, leaving Oishi alone with the girl.  

"Um…" The girl blushed as she tried to talk.  "Oishi-sempai…I wanted to say…. I really like you."

As always, Oishi lightly blushed when he heard that.  He shook it off quickly, for he knew what his response would be.  He smiled at the girl.  "Arigatou.  I'm sorry, but I'm not looking for a relationship.  I hope you can understand."

The girl shook her head.  "It's alright Oishi-sempai.  I understand.  Excuse me."  The girl looked like she was about to cry as she ran off.  Oishi sighed.  He really didn't like doing that, but there weren't many girls he could relate to well.  The only girl he felt he could relate to well was Reiko.  As he pictured her in his mind, a blush came upon his face.  Oishi shook it off quickly.  He went back to the clubroom and proceeded to change back to his school clothes.  

Oishi was walking back to his class from the outside of the school building.  As he rounded the corner, he saw Reiko standing alone.  Oishi was about to call her name, but then noticed that she was standing there with a guy from his class.  Oishi then hid behind the corner.  He felt he shouldn't be hearing in on her conversation, but he wanted to know what was going on.  

"Um…Reiko-san.  Did you get my letter?"  The guy asked nervously.  

Reiko nodded.  "Yes, I did read your letter."

"So I was wondering…if you could give me an answer."

Oishi was a little shocked that Reiko was being asked out.  He then realized that he hasn't spent a lot of time with her, which was why he never noticed.  _"So Reiko is going through the same thing." _Nervousness went through him as he waited to hear how Reiko would respond.  

Reiko closed her eyes and bowed politely.  "Gomen, but I'm not looking for a relationship now."

"But…I really like you.  Is it because there is someone else you like?"  He walked over to Reiko and placed his hands gently on her shoulders.  Oishi saw the gesture and a blush came to his face.  He leaned himself on the side of the school building.  _"Why am I feeling so nervous now?"_ Oishi could feel his heart beating fast.  

Reiko shook her head and smiled at him.  "You are a really nice guy.  But, we don't know each other very well.   I hope we can become better friends later on."

"Ah I see…" The guy said sadly.  He then walked away, not looking back.  Reiko continued to watch as he left.  The gently breeze blew her long black hair lightly and she brushed her hand through.  A slightly sad look appeared in her eyes as she let out a small sigh.  "It's true though.  I don't think anyone knows me well…"

"Rei-chan?"  Reiko turned around and saw Oishi walking towards her.  A smile appeared on her face again.  "Hi Syu-kun!  It's been a while since I last saw you.  Did you practice tennis during lunch break?"  She talked happily. 

Oishi nodded.  "You had a meeting today right?"

"Yup.  It just ended recently."

"Um…Rei-chan.  About what just happened…"

"You saw?"  Reiko replied back quickly.  Oishi nodded his head again.  "Gomen…I didn't mean to."

"Don't worry about it.  I've been getting this often lately.  It's nice, but sometimes it's hard to tell people the truth.  I really don't like hurting people.  Don't you go through the same thing?"

"Huh?" Oishi answered with a slight blush on his face.  

"You know.  I heard you have your own fan club.  Don't girls ask you out a lot?"  Reiko looked down at her shoes.  "Aren't their any girls that interest you?  They must be really nice."

Oishi rubbed his head.  "Its true the girls are nice.  I've been quite busy taking over as captain so I don't have much time to date.  But, sometimes I think none of them really know me well so I'm not interested."  Reiko blushed and was startled by his response.  _"That's the same reason I had.  Weird…we both feel the same way about this."_

Oishi continued to talk.  "I was wondering…"

*****Ring* 

Lunchtime has ended.  Reiko giggled.  "I guess we'll have to continue our talk later.  So we're meeting tomorrow for lunch at the usual place right?"  Oishi nodded in agreement.  "We better hurry back to class before we're late."  Oishi smiled at Reiko and the two walked back to their classrooms.  

As they were walking away, a few students from afar were watching the two with furious looks on their faces.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

The end of the day went by quickly.  Besides the usual fights Momoshiro and Kaidoh had and the torturous juices Inui brought, practice was normal.  The sun was beginning to set as Oishi called for the end of practice.  The regulars continued to train hard to make sure that they would save a seat for Tezuka at the Nationals when he would return from Germany.  All of the regulars were tired from the intense training they had and everyone went back to the clubroom to change.  

As usual, Oishi was the last one to leave and lock up the clubroom.   He turned to leave when he noticed that a figure was waiting for him.  

"Oishi."  Eiji was waiting near a tree outside of the clubroom and walked up to Oishi.  "Are you walking back home?"  Eiji responded with a smile, but the hyperactive personality was nowhere to be seen.

Oishi nodded.  "Yes I was going home."

"Mind if I walk with you?"  Oishi could tell from the way Eiji was acting that there was something bothering him.  Oishi smiled.  "Sure, I don't mind at all."  

Both of them continued to walk.  Oishi was waiting for Eiji to talk, for it seemed like he had something to talk about.  After about 5 minutes, Oishi couldn't wait any longer.  "Eiji.  You don't seem like your normal self.  Is something wrong?"  Oishi stopped walking and faced Eiji.  

Eiji started the play with his fingers and was getting nervous.  Oishi was his good friend, yet he was still iffy to ask. Eiji recalled the conversation he had with Fuji earlier.  He decided he would say what he planned.  "Ne..Oishi.  I've been meaning to ask you this.  What's your opinion on Reiko?"

Oishi was confused as to what he was trying to say.  "What do you mean Eiji?  Reiko is my childhood friend."

Eiji shook his head.  His face began to blush as he stuttered on what he was going to say.  "No.  I mean…do you…love Reiko?"

A gush of wind was the only sound heard, for silence at the moment was the only answer.  

Oishi's face became entirely red when he heard Eiji ask that.  He was speechless and had no clue how to respond.  "Well…I really don't know…" That was all Oishi could say because he seriously didn't know.  He barely even saw her these days.  A part of him did have feelings for her, but another part still saw Reiko as a childhood friend.  

"Oh I see…" Eiji walked up to Oishi and whispered into his ear.  "I just want you to know…that I'm falling in love with Reiko.  Oishi…if you don't plan on pursuing her, I'm going to."  

To be cont.  

Quick thank you's:

Tsubame Gaeshi- Well here is the continuation of the story after a month long stop.  Thanks for always supporting.  

Jen-chan- I know you wanted this story to go on, so this continuation is dedicated to you as well.  You always supported my stories, though I don't think they are that great.  Big thanks to you! 

Aya-chan- Thank you so much for your review.  I'm so glad you liked and appreciated this story.  I hope this will continue to be a decent story for your enjoyment.  

AstarInDaSky05-Thanks for reviewing and I'm glad you like this story!  Thanks for reading the cracked out fantasy story as well.  I like shonen-ai as well, but it would be nice if some straight stories existed.  Hope you continue reading!

Shortichan- Thanks for the support and there needs to be more Oishi fans!  

To everyone else, thanks for reading and please continue to support.  I love hearing from the readers! ^_^

(A/N:  First off, does anyone care that I didn't give names to the people that asked Oishi and Reiko out?  If there is a character of importance I will give them a name.  Oh lord, I did it.  I made a controversial triangle between Reiko and the Golden Pair! Don't worry though, it won't get too complicating (Yeah right).  Any comments or suggestions?  Email if you want! I like anything that will help me improve and make the story much better!  Give me criticism if you like (don't flame too bad though)!  Thanks for reading as always!  It might take longer for chapters to come, for school is around the corner.  I tend to post new things on Fridays or the weekends.  Please be patient.)  


	10. Letting Go

(A/N:  Hm…seems like I left the last one hanging with some uncertainties.  Gomenasai!  But, it was already certain that Eiji did like Reiko, since back in chapter 2 he was showing interest.  Anyways…I hope this story doesn't suck.  Btw…I'll try not to make it too complicating but interesting.  Thanks for reading and feedback is always welcomed.)

Disclaimer:  See previous chapters.  By now you should know.  

Italics mean person's thoughts.  

Chapter 10:  Letting Go

It's late afternoon at the street tennis courts and the sky is starting to fade from red orange to dark blue.  The courts are quiet with a few groups playing doubles matches.  On one court, a boy and girl were playing a singles match.  Both of them appeared to be having a good rally since the ball keeps getting smacked back n forth without anyone making mistakes.  Soon, one of them does a tricky move that causes the other person to falter and a point gets scored.  The same thing keeps getting repeated over and over.  

"Game Set.  6-4"

The game has ended.  

"Augh!  I was so close and blew it at the end!"  Reiko said in exhaustion as her legs gave way and she fell on her knees.  She wiped the sweat off her forehead using the sweatband on her right arm.  After taking a few deep breathes to calm her tired body, she got up and shook hands with her opponent on the other side of the net.  

"Sorry for getting a little frustrated back there.  It was a great game and you played wonderful Eiji-kun."  Reiko smiled at Eiji, assuring him that her frustration was gone. 

Eiji smiled back.  "Don't worry about that.  Sometimes I get frustrated when I lose as well.  You played great though.  It was a tough match for me to win."  

Both of them stood on the court and discussed their game.  Since this was the first time they played each other, Eiji was giving Reiko compliments on how she played as well as areas in which she could improve.  She listened to every detailed description Eiji mentioned so that she could further train and practice.

" So if you do that, I'm sure I'd probably lose the next time we play."  Eiji concluded with a wink in his eye.  

"I'll keep that in mind."  Reiko replied back with a smile. Both of them packed up their belongings and rackets into their bags and proceeded to leave the street tennis courts.  They were walking down the steps away from the courts when Eiji noticed that Reiko was looking a little down.  

"Reiko-chan?  Is there something wrong?" Eiji asked in a concern voice.  

Reiko shook her head.  "Nothing is wrong.  You guys have been training hard to get to the Nationals so of course you all would be really good.  I'm attempting to train hard as well, but I wonder if that will ever be enough."  

"Enough for what?"

"If I'll ever be able to play a fair match with Syu-kun again.  Last time he was injured, yet I somehow was able to win.  At the rate I'm going, I don't think I'll ever be able to match up with him again."  Reiko let out a small sigh.  

Eiji poked at Reiko's forehead, which caused her to look up at Eiji with a surprised look.  "You won't know unless you try right?  If you'd like, I'd be glad to help you out whenever I can."  Eiji replied cheerfully.  

Reiko blinked a few times, almost as she didn't believe what Eiji just said.  "You would?"

"Yup!  It's a promise!"  Eiji grinned at her and nodded his head.   

"Arigatou Eiji-kun.  That means a lot to me.  You really can brighten the mood when I get down."  

Eiji blushed at that remark. 

"Nee…Reiko-chan.  I have something I need to tell you."  

They were both standing alone at the bottom of the stairs near the street tennis courts.  

"What is it Eiji-kun?  Just spit it out.  I won't mind."

"I…I…"  Eiji kept on stuttering his words.  "I…I was wondering if I could walk you back to your house!"  

Part of Eiji just wanted to smack himself. 

_"KUSO! I messed up!"_

Reiko had on a confused look, wondering why he had such a hard time saying that.  "Sure I don't mind walking back together."

"Oh really?  That's great then.  Let's walk back together!"  Eiji attempted to laugh it off.  

_"Dammit!  Why couldn't I just say it!?  Well…at least walking back to her house will give me some time to attempt it once again."_

RING RING

"Hm…who could be calling me now?  Excuse me for a moment."  Reiko picked up her cell phone.  "Moshi moshi?  Ah Otousan, you're home already?"  Her eyes widened.   "Really?  Okay, I'll swing by and pick something up.  I'm on my way home now.  No it's not a problem.  See you in a bit."  Reiko hung up the phone.  

"Is everything alright?"  

Reiko nodded her head and smiled at Eiji.  "Mika-chan attempted to cook dinner and caused a major disaster at home.  I have to run by the market and pick up some things.  Gomen, I won't be able to walk back with you." 

Eiji shook his head and laughed.  "No biggie.  You better hurry back before Mika-chan blows up the house."

Reiko giggled.  "Now that would be bad!  Hopefully Otousan will prevent that.  I'm sure he won't be mad since Mika-chan is only 7.  I'll have to help her out with some things.  Well have to go now!  See you at school tomorrow!"  Reiko ran off to the market.  

"I'll see you at school as well! Ja ne!" Eiji hollered back with a wave.  He continued to wave till Reiko was out of view.  After that, Eiji walked to the nearest telephone pole and smacked his head on it several times. 

"Argh!  I blew my chance!"

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

The next day, lunchtime came around and Reiko went off to eat lunch with Oishi again.  At least twice a week she ate lunch with him.  Eiji was glad that Reiko went off today since he wanted to talk with Fuji alone.  As the days went by, he started to have a much harder time trying to confess his feelings.  Eiji just smacked his head on the table as Fuji moved over to sit with him.

"Seems like you still haven't told her."  Fuji said casually as he brought out his lunch consisting of what appeared to be Cajun food.  

Eiji lifted his head and looked at the tensai's face.  "You won't believe how hard it is to do this.  Every chance I had, something would come up or I would say the wrong things!  I keep flaking every time I try to attempt to say it in a conversation!  This just sucks.  Maybe I shouldn't even bother."  Eiji sighed as he drank his juice.  He had his lunch out, but wasn't in the mood to eat.

"Perhaps you should not try to say it to her in person."  

Eiji's eyes widened with interest.  "What are you trying to say Fuji?"

"If you can't say it directly, why not do it indirectly?"

"And how would I be able to do that?"  Eiji's cat-like ears were perking up as he leaned in, wanting to hear what Fuji had in mind.  

Fuji smiled.  "There is one way."

***

Meanwhile, Reiko went outside and met Oishi at the usual place they would eat lunch together.  There was a tall oak tree near the school's tennis courts that provided a nice shady area.  The grass underneath the trees was comfy and a gentle nice breeze blew, providing a relaxed atmosphere.  Both of them would sit under the tree and talk about what has been going on in their life.  Sometimes they would recall past memories and sometimes they would mention the busy things going on now.  

"…so I played the girl's captain in a practice match after school and was able to beat her 7-6..."  Reiko continued to talk about a match she played.  Two days ago, they met here and she was mentioning how last week she lost to the captain in the ranking tournament.  Oishi ate his lunch and listened to what Reiko was saying.  He was glad knowing that she had adjusted to the tennis team and school, given that he knew about the problems she had the previous years.  However, while he didn't show it, his mind was wandering back to the conversation he and Eiji had a few days before.  

*flashback* 

Three days ago after boy's tennis practice.

"You…you like Rei-chan?"  

Eiji nodded.  "Un…I've liked her for quite some time.  I didn't want to say anything since I wasn't sure how you felt towards her.  But, I couldn't hold it off any longer."

Oishi smiled at Eiji.  "Arigatou.  I'm glad you told me how you felt about Rei-chan."

"Nee Oishi…I need to know if you really like her.  I'm saying this because we're best friends.  You need to tell me how you feel about her because I like her as well.  I don't want any bad feelings to come from this.  Since you're my best friend…I'm willing to walk away from this now."  

Oishi looked at Eiji's eyes.  The playful attitude that Oishi was used to seeing was replaced with a serious look.  He wasn't sure what to say.  Sure he did like Reiko, but there were still uncertainties as to how much he liked her.  Eiji looked like his feelings were set.  With that in mind, Oishi made his decision.  He walked up to Eiji and placed his hands on Eiji's shoulders.  

"Oishi?"  Eiji said with a startled voice.  Oishi closed his eyes trying to figure out the best way to say his decision.  

He then opened his eyes and smiled at Eiji.  "Eiji.  You're been my best friend at Seigaku.  I trust you with my life.  Rei-chan has always been my childhood friend and…she'll still continue to be my childhood friend."

Eiji's eyes widened with shock.  "Oishi.  Are you trying to say…?"

"I believe you can make her happy.  Please don't let me down."  Eiji's eyes filled with excitement as he jumped into Oishi hugging him tight.  

"Arigatou Oishi!"  Eiji exclaimed in joy.  Oishi closed his eyes and patted Eiji on the back.  A part of him felt sad that he waited too long to realize his feelings. But since it was his friend Eiji, he felt it would be okay.   _"It's not like I'm never going to see her again.  We'll still be friends."_

"Oishi!"  Eiji released Oishi and looked at his face.  "Let's go get some pudding!  My treat!" 

"But Eiji, isn't it almost dinner time?" 

 Before Oishi could say anymore, Eiji grabbed his hand and tugged him playfully.  "It doesn't' matter.  It's not going to spoil my dinner.  My Nee-san is making my favorite food tonight so I'll be sure to eat plenty."  Oishi replied with a smile and the two went down the street and made a stop at the nearby sweets place before heading home.

*end of flashback*

"Syu-kun?  Syu-kun?" 

"Huh?"  Oishi said in confusion.  

"You seem to be spacing out more.  Have you been stressing out lately?"  Reiko asked in concern.  She looked at Oishi's shirt.  "Aiya…you spilled some rice on yourself.  Here, let me clean it up."  Reiko leaned in with a napkin and attempted to clean the rice on him.  

"Its okay Rei-chan I can do it myself."  Oishi said with a slight blush in his face as he leaned away.

"Since I already offered, just let me finish."  Oishi gave in and Reiko cleaned his shirt.  Her head was leaned in close to Oishi's face, which gave him an awkward feeling.  He could smell her hair, which had a heavenly scent of lavender.  The scent started to give him a relaxed feeling.  Even though they showed concern for each other, sometimes he felt they acted more than childhood friends.  Maybe it was because they understood each other.  He recalled back on the conversation with Eiji and shook his head.  From the way Reiko was acting, it didn't seem like Eiji told her his feelings yet.  

"All done."  Reiko replied as she smiled at Oishi.  She sat back down and continued to eat her lunch.  

Oishi looked at Reiko.  It was relaxing hanging around her, but his decision was made.  He hoped Eiji would tell her.  The longer the wait could make things more hectic and possibly cause problems later.  Oishi didn't want the Golden Pair to dismantle when they were needed the most.  

He had to avoid her.  Just for the time being till things were straighten out.

"Nee…Rei-chan.  Do you like hanging out with me at lunch?"  

Reiko looked at Oishi with a puzzled look.  "Well of course I like hanging out with you.  Am I being a bother?"

Oishi shook his head in defense.  "No that's not what I meant!  I do like hanging out with you…its just that, I might be getting more busy later that it will be harder to eat lunch together."  Part of what he said was true.  This seemed like the easiest way to avoid her for a bit without making it odd.  

Reiko smiled.  "I understand.  Being captain is a lot of work and I would feel better knowing you're doing the best for the team.  Whenever you have time, I'll be glad to hang out with you."

Oishi breathed a sigh of relief.  "Arigatou Rei-chan."  Oishi looked at the time.  "Gomen, I have to leave early.  I'm suppose to meet with Ryuzaki-sensei near the end of lunch to discuss some things."

"No problem.  I'm going to head back to class."  Both of them packed up their belongings and stood up.  "I'll see you later then Syu-kun."  

"Bye Rei-chan."  Oishi headed off to Ryuzaki's sensei's office.  

_"Sayonara."_

Once Oishi was gone from sight, Reiko turned her head to the side of the school building.  "It's not nice to spy on people.  You could have came out and joined us if you wanted to."

A group of girls hiding from the side of the building away from where Oishi and Reiko were sitting came out around the corner.  They had shocked but cross looks on their faces.  From where they were standing, they couldn't hear their conversation, but could see what was happening.  "How did you know we were hiding there?" One of the girls replied.  

"I guess you could say I'm used to knowing if people are watching me."  Reiko replied smiling.  "I'm also assuming you were the same people that were spying on us a few days before."  

The girls were shocked that Reiko knew that.  All of the girls approached Reiko and surrounded her in a circle.  Reiko noticed that there were 6 of them surrounding her. She was able to recognize some of them and assumed that they were all 3rd years.

Reiko let out a sigh.  _"Great…I knew this was going to come soon.  At least this time I'm ready and won't let my guard down." _  

"What do you want with me?" Reiko replied in an uninterested tone.

"Funny you should ask that."  Another girl replied sarcastically.  Reiko recognized her as Mizuno Yumi, a girl with short brown hair that is part of the school's track team.  "I can't help but wonder how a transfer twerp like you, who only been here for a month, managed to attract Oishi's attention."

"Why does this matter to you?"

"Of course this matters to us!  We're part of the Oishi fan club and have been trying for a long time to get his attention with no success."  A girl with long brown hair replied.  "Every girl that has asked him out has been rejected.  How can he just casually eat lunch with one girl?"

"Why don't you just ask him instead of confronting me?  I would think it be much easier to just talk to him then harass me with various threat letters."  Reiko dug her hand into her pocket and brought out a few letters.  "Hm…seems like Mizuno Yumi wrote me a letter everyday this week, Yani Sana started two days ago, and Tamata Rika joined in today.  I find it such a waste of time to write letters."  Reiko smiled at all the girls, waving the letters in her hand. Their only response at the moment was the sound of their jaws dropping to the ground in disbelief.  

"How…how did you know who wrote them when none of us put our names on the letters?"  Sana, the girl with long brown hair finally replied.  

"I have my methods."  Reiko replied with a smirk.  

"Acting like a smart ass."  Yumi walked up to Reiko and grabbed her uniform by the collar.  "Don't act tough with me.  It makes me sick seeing an unknown girl smiling all happily with Oishi.  I'd like to wipe that smile off your face."

"Then why don't you then?  I'd like to see you try."  Reiko didn't give her a chance.  She grabbed Yumi's wrist and squeezed it a certain way.  Yumi winced and pulled her hand away from Reiko.

"What the hell?"  Yumi rubbed her wrist.  It almost felt as if she was going to break her wrist.  

"I wouldn't have done it if you didn't attempt to grab me."  Reiko fixed her uniform and looked at the other girls.  "Do any of you want to try anything?"  

The girls started to back away a bit.  None of them expected Reiko to fight back.  

"Who are you?  What is your relation to Oishi?"  

"I'm just a classmate that likes to play tennis and happens to know Syu-kun."  Reiko smiled.

"Syu-kun?  Ugh…how dare you call him stupid pet names!"  One of the girls yelled.

"Fine then, I happen to know O-I-SHI-kun from before.  Does that clear some things up?"  

"Like we're going to believe crap like that.  So are you going to go whine to Oishi that we're picking on you?"  Yumi snapped.  

Reiko let out another sigh.  _"And how does Oishi have girls like this chasing after him?  This is so annoying. First it was the tennis team, now it's psycho girls.   The girls should be glad I wouldn't tell him about this since Syu-kun would be mad if he knew I got into a fight with these jerks.  I don't need his help anyways.  Besides, he might make the situation worse than it already is."_

She was getting tired of having a repeated situation.  Reiko took a deep breath to calm her mind.  She really didn't want to have trouble early on, but the girls were so asking for it.

"Now why would I do something like that?  Being picked on by classmates for stupid reasons like this isn't worth my time.  I may be Sy… I mean Oishi's friend, but knowing that girls like you are trying to go out with him makes me sick."  Reiko replied calmly while the girls looked at her furiously from the comment she made.

"You bastard…" Yumi clenched her fist.  She seriously wanted to attack Reiko, but what happened before made her cautious as to what else Reiko might do.  

*Ring*

Lunchtime has ended.

"I say we all head back now so we don't get in trouble for being late." Reiko smiled and walked out of the circle of girls.  With her back turned from the group of girls, she continued talking.  "I don't like being mean to people, but I really hate it when I get pushed around."  Reiko then walked back to class. 

All the girls stood there in a mix of stunned silence and shock.  From the impression of Reiko they had observed earlier, they saw her as an innocent girl that they could easily crush, scare away, and gain up on.  Now, it seems she was someone they didn't want to mess with.  The fact that she continued to smile while holding her ground made it even scarier.  After an attempt to pick on her, they were the ones that ended up with doubts and fear.  All of them thought this except for Yumi.  Yumi was furious at what Reiko did to her and she wasn't going to let her get away with it so easily.  

***

From the third floor of the school building, a figure was standing near the window watching the situation unfold.  He had a notebook out and was taking detailed notes of what was occurring.  

"Looks like you gave Reiko-san some important information."

The guy taking notes looked up from his notebook and fixed his glasses.  "I'm not called the 'data man' for nothing."

"That's true."  Fuji walked over to Inui and looked out the window.  "I find it quite rude if I didn't know the person that sends me threat letters.  I was amazed to know that you even hold writing samples of every student here."

"Every piece of data has some use."  Inui watched as Reiko walked back into the building away from the circle of girls.  "By the way Fuji.  Does Oishi know about this?"

Fuji shook his head.  "I don't think he should know, given that Reiko told me not to tell.  I'm sure Reiko can handle the situation herself.  I think you have to agree with me that it's better he doesn't know."

"Yes.  Knowing Oishi, he might even make the situation worse."

"It seems as the days go by, Reiko becomes even more interesting.  Her inner self…I want to know what she's hiding."  Fuji talked quietly as he walked back to his classroom.  

"This could be good data."

To be cont.  

(A/N:  I hope that cleared up some things.  Don't kill me for what just happened in this chapter.  The story is still continuing and anything can change!  No cliffhanger here I hope.  Anyways, finals and GRE coming so I will be hiding out a bit.  I hope you are enjoying the story and please review.  I love hearing from the readers.)


	11. Love Letters are Evil

(A/N:  Wow…It's been a while since I wrote the last chapter.   I've been hiding out a bit since I'm in the process of applying for Grad School and the deadline is coming faster than expected.  Also back at college and lots of interesting stuff have been happening in the dorms.  I hope this story is still interesting and you continue to enjoy reading this.  I've also been having horrible writer's block so sorry for the delay.  Hope you enjoy the chapter.)

Disclaimer:  I gave up.  Go look at the 1st chapter.

Italics mean person's thoughts.

Chapter 11:  Love Letters are Evil

Eiji nervously stood in front of Reiko's shoebox the last five minutes.  Several times his shaky hand would slowly attempt to open her shoebox, but then he'd pull his hand away wondering if he should do this or not.  All last night he wrote various drafts of attempting to express his utmost feelings for her.  Now, the letter he held in his hand was the final and perfect draft.  He debated whether to put his name on the letter and in the end decided not to.  Fuji had told him previously that with or without the name, Reiko was able to identify the person in some way.  He also told him that Reiko always answered every letter.  Eiji figured that if he left a letter, he couldn't screw up or miss out on a chance.  If that was the case, why was his mind still in doubt?  

Eiji shook his head.  He knew he had to go through this.  Oishi had asked him hesitantly this morning at practice whether he told Reiko his feelings.  Eiji replied that he was going to leave the letter for her before he went to class.  He dressed and left the clubroom early in order to place the letter in her box before she came back from her morning practice.  

_"Come on Eiji, don't back out now." _He told himself as he took a deep breath.  He went through a lot of trouble to write his confession and Oishi was expecting him to resolve the matter soon.  Oishi was getting antsy around him and Eiji knew it wasn't totally from taking over as captain.  

As his mind wandered aimlessly in confusion, he heard a few voices approaching.  One of the voices he distinctly recognized.  

_"Shoot!  One of them is Reiko!" _ 

Eiji's mind went into a small panic.  He quickly opened her shoebox, shoved the letter in, grabbed his bags, and ran off to class.  

A small group of girls approached the locker area with tennis bags on their shoulders.  The girls had recently ended their morning practice and were heading off to class.  Reiko walked to her shoebox and opened it up to change into her school shoes.  She saw a few letters lying on top of her shoes so she picked one of them up.  

"Ugh…another letter from Yumi."  Reiko mumbled quietly.  The other two girls gave up writing her threat letters, but Yumi continued to do so every so often.  Reiko placed her hand in to open the other letter.  

"Reiko-chan!  Let's go before we're late!"  One of the girls called.  

"Okay!"  Reiko exclaimed back.  She changed into her shoes and shoved the letters she had into her school bag.  Reiko joined her fellow teammates and walked to their classrooms. 

One minute later…

"Augh!  I'm going to be late!"

A girl quickly ran into the locker area and ran to her shoebox to frantically change her shoes.  She had also come back from morning tennis practice and she tossed her bags on the ground as she reached into her shoebox.  

"I shouldn't have attempted to change my racket grip now.  I didn't know it would take so long."  She grumbled to herself as she opened her box.  A letter fell out.

_"What's this?" _

She picked up the letter off the ground and looked at it from both sides, noticing there was no name on it.  "Crap!  I need to go to class!"  The girl quickly shoved the letter into her pocket as she slammed her shoebox closed and scurried off to class.  

PRINCEOFTENISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Lunchtime rolled around and the students went off to go eat at their usual hangouts.  Reiko sat with Eiji and Fuji in the far corner of the classroom where they usually sat.  They were taking out their lunches when the girl from this morning approached the three.  

"Reiko-chan, do you want to eat lunch together?" 

Reiko smiled.  "Sure Makoto-chan.  Would you like to join us?"  Reiko turned around and dragged a free chair over to where they were sitting.  

Makoto shook her head.  "Um…is it okay if I eat with you alone?"  She glanced at Eiji.  As he looked back at Makoto with a cheerful look, she turned her head away quickly and a small blush could be seen on her cheeks.  

"No problem.  I hope you guys won't mind I back out on you today."

Fuji shook his head and smiled.  "We won't mind.  Hope you two have fun."

"Arigatou."  Reiko gathered her lunch and walked out of the classroom with Makoto.  

Eiji watched the two leave the classroom.  He turned back to Fuji with a confused look.  "Nee Fuji.  I don't know if it was just me, but Harada-san was giving me a weird look.  I wonder if I did something wrong."

"Hm…well did you do something wrong?"  Fuji asked curiously.

"Of course not!  I barely even know her!"  Eiji replied in defense.  They both continued to eat their lunch in silence.  

"Nya Fuji…"

"Hm?"

"Do you think Reiko knows I gave her the letter?  She hasn't been acting different towards me yet.  Then again, do you know if ever acts different towards anyone she's gotten a letter from?"  

Fuji pondered on that.  "Good question.  I know a few students in our class have asked her out and she declined.  So far, Reiko hasn't treated them any different nor her behavior towards them has changed.  With that in mind, its hard to tell whether she know or not."  He smiled and started to mumble quietly.  "I wonder how'd she react if 'he' confessed."

"Hm?  What was that last thing you said?"

"Ah never mind.  It's not really important."

"Oh okay."  Eiji began to play with the rest of his food.  Fuji could tell that something else was bothering his mind.  He waited quietly till Eiji would give in and tell him what was still on his mind.  

"I think I'm just worried how'd she react."  Eiji finally replied.  

Fuji smiled at Eiji and patted him on the shoulder.  "Well whatever the decision is, that's life.  You can't change a person's view.  If it doesn't work out, hopefully you'll get over it eventually.  Do you know when Reiko will give you her decision?"  

Eiji nodded.  "I wrote it in the letter.  By the end of today I should know."

***

In the meantime, Reiko had followed Makoto to the roof where the two of them ate lunch with no one around.  

"There's something bothering you right?"

"Huh?"  Makoto's was lost in deep thought when Reiko began to talk.  She nodded her head and put down her lunch.  "Yeah.  Sorry I had to disturb your lunch."

"Don't worry about it."  Reiko said cheerfully.  "From the look on your face it seemed important.  So what did you want to talk about?"  

"Ano…"  Makoto nervously pulled out the already opened letter from her pocket.  She gave the letter to Reiko.  "I wanted to ask you about this.  Do you know who might have wrote this letter?" 

Reiko read the letter and looked at the handwriting.  Her eyes widened as she slowly started to make a guess as to who might have written it.  "Is this Eiji-kun's writing?"  

"You think so as well?"  Makoto replied back quickly.  "I wasn't sure at first, but his writing is quite different from other guys I know.  It's a lot more sloppy."  Both of the girls laughed.

Reiko looked at the letter again.  "Wow.  The way he wrote this letter, its beautiful.   I didn't know Eiji-kun liked you." (A/N: there was no name on the letter)

"I didn't know either.  It's weird though.  I barely even know him, yet he confesses to me."

"Do you like him?"

Makoto looked at the ground.  "That's the problem."

"You like someone else?"

"Eh?"  Makoto looked up at Reiko as a blush encompassed her face.  "H…How'd you…?"

Reiko giggled.  "You can't hide it.  You're easy to read.  If I'm correct, it wouldn't happen to be a 'someone' in classroom 3-3?"

"Wah!  Reiko-chan!  How did you find out?  Please don't tell anyone okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't.  Anyways…"  Reiko looked back at the letter.  "Now that you know who the mysterious person is, you have to now tell him how you feel.  He must know you play tennis since he wants to meet for your answer near the tall oak tree next to the courts after practice ends today."

"Won't he be hurt by my response?  I'd feel bad rejecting him."

"I know what you mean.  However, would you feel better knowing you dated someone you didn't like?  I'm sure Eiji-kun wouldn't feel right dating someone that doesn't like him back."

"That's true.  Thanks for helping me out Reiko-chan.  I'm not sure how you can turn down so many guys.  Don't you like any of them?"

"They're all nice, but none of them really know me.  Maybe if I got to know them more I'd be willing to.  I just need more time."

"What about Oishi?"

Reiko was startled.  "What do you mean?"

"Didn't you know him when you were younger?  I've seen you two talk together.  You both seem compatible."

She put on a semi confused look.  "Really?  I never thought of it like that.  Syu-kun is really nice to everyone.  Truthfully I don't think he acts any different from everyone else he talks to."   

"Oh I see."  Makoto looked at her watch.  "Ah gomenasai!  I have to get some notes from my friend.  Anyways I'll see you at practice this afternoon."  She grabbed her belongings and ran down the stairs. 

"Good luck Makoto-chan!"  Reiko yelled as Makoto left.  Reiko sat back down and finished her lunch.  She then laid her back on the ground and looked up at the blue sky as the clouds floated by.  A large sigh was released.  "Compatible…is that how people see us?"  Reiko thought about it for a bit.  "I guess she must be right.  What other reason would I be attacked by all those letters?  But, Syu-kun is nice to everyone.  I'm just one of his friends, so what makes me stand out?  There isn't anything else…or is there?" 

She started to blush at the thought, but shook her head quickly.  "Baka" She told herself out loud.  "I'm thinking too hard on this.  Syu-kun barely has time to even talk to me these days.  I doubt he likes me anymore than friends."  Reiko stood up and stretched.  "Well, now that I got this figured I better head back to class."  She picked up her lunch stuff and walked down the stairs to class.  

PRINCEOFTENISSPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Boy's afternoon practice came around.  After the usual running that ended with the regulars surviving a near death encounter with Inui's newest creation, the regulars paired up and played short games.  The Golden Pair were having a hard time coordinating with each other as both Oishi and Eiji were having a hard time focusing.  Most of their shots fell outside the court or they would mess up their communication skills and miss easy ones.  Neither of them seemed to be frustrated with how they were playing since their minds were focused on something else.   

Inui took notice of this and felt something must be done in order to prevent the continual slump of the Golden Pair.  

"Losers of this match will have to taste my newest drink, 'Inui's Super Special Deluxe'"  

Both Oishi and Eiji winced at the sight and started to focus.  However, they were already down 0-4 and never were able to make a comeback.  Several loud screams were heard as Oishi and Eiji both ran off to the sink.  Kawamura breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to taste test Inui's drink.  Fuji smiled and enjoyed the site of the Golden Pair running off.  

After ridding their mouths of any presence of Inui's creation, the Golden Pair flopped on the ground breathing heavily from the near death encounter.  

"Nya Oishi…I can't believe we had to drink that nasty stuff.  How come you couldn't focus?"

"Me?  I think it was more like you!  You were totally zoning out and weren't poaching at the net like you usually did."  Oishi sighed.  "Gomen.  I shouldn't have accused you.  My mind hasn't been all there either."

"It's alright.  I admit my mind's been wandering."  Eiji sat up and placed his knees to his chest.  "I'm just worried."

"You still haven't told her yet?" 

"No I did.  I left the letter in her box this morning.  I'm suppose to meet her after practice, but I guess I'm scared as to what the response will be."  

Oishi smiled.  "Don't worry Eiji.  Reiko's happy having you around.  I'm sure it will work out."   

Eiji smiled back and got up.  "I hope so as well.  All right!  Let's show everyone how the Golden Pair really plays!" 

Oishi got up.  "That's the Eiji I know.  Let's win it this time!"

"Yup!"  

And so they did.  The Golden Pair played another doubles match and won.  Inui didn't mind drinking his own creation, but poor Kaidoh hissed himself all the way to the sink.  The sky was becoming a golden orange as tennis practice came to an end.  Everyone went back to the clubroom to change.  

"Hey Kikumaru-sempai.  Want to join us at the burger joint?"  Momoshiro asked as he closed up his school jacket.  

"Gomen.  Not today, I have something special to attend to.  Maybe some other time."

"Oh really?  No problem.  Well, I guess it's just me and you."  Momoshiro started messing up Ryoma's hair.  

"Hey watch it."  Ryoma smacked off Momoshiro's hand.  "I guess you're paying then."

"Eh?  Why me?"

"Sempai's treat."  Ryoma smirked.  

"What?  Oh that's cruel."  Momoshiro sighed as he walked out the clubroom with Ryoma.  

Eiji finished changing and walked to the oak tree near the tennis courts.  He leaned himself next the tree and looked at the time, noticing that he was still a little early.  Eiji took a deep breath and hoped things would go as planned.  

PRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNISPRINCEOFTENNIS

Oishi sat in his room working on a mixture of homework assignments and papers for the tennis club.  His mind kept wondering how things would turn out for Eiji, but he had a feeling that everything would turn out okay.  He didn't mind Eiji dating Reiko since both of them were dear friends to him that he trusted with his life.  

He was focusing back on his work when he heard a knock downstairs.  He heard his mom open the door.  "Syuchiroh!  Eiji is at the door!"  His mom called.  

"Eiji?"  Oishi got up from his chair and ran downstairs.  He wondered why Eiji would be coming over at this time since it was already late and dark outside.  _"Maybe he was excited about today that he wanted to run over here and tell me the good news."_

As Oishi got the door, he was shocked at his appearance.  He was expecting a hyper cheerful Eiji, but instead got a sad, tired, and very depressed Eiji.  

Eiji looked up at Oishi and did his best to smile.  "Oishi.  Sorry for coming over so late.  Do you mind if I come in for a bit?"

Oishi couldn't refuse the offer.  "No problem Eiji."  He noticed that Eiji was still in his school uniform.  "Didn't feel like changing at home?"

Eiji shook his head.  "I didn't go home.  Don't worry though, I called home to tell them I was going to be out for a bit."

Both of them hurried to his room so they could talk privately.  Oishi was really worried about what happened today from Eiji's appearance.  Oishi closed the door as Eiji sat on Oishi's bed curled up.  He sat down next to him.  "Eiji.  If you haven't gone home yet, where have you been all this time?"  Oishi asked in concern.  

"I was at school still."  

"School?  But we ended practice nearly 3 hours ago!"  Oishi exclaimed in shock.  "Why were you still there?"

"Reiko…she never came."  

"What?"

"I waited around.  I wondered if something might have happened so I called her cell phone and got no response."  Eiji looked at Oishi with eyes about to be filled with tears.  "Oishi…what if she saw me waiting and didn't want to tell me?  I would think she'd approach me…but…" Eiji leaned his face into Oishi's chest to hide the tears that were coming.  Oishi could feel the warm tears absorb through his shirt.    

"She could have called me if she couldn't come.  I thought I knew her well.  Why'd she do this to me?  I tried for so long and when I finally got the chance, it ended like this.  Why did I even bother?  I shouldn't have done this."  Eiji spoke as his face was still buried in Oishi shirt.  Oishi was left speechless.  He didn't know how to respond and was shocked at what Reiko did.  It anguished him seeing one of his best friends hurt by another.  All he could do at the time was comfort him.  He patted Eiji on the back and gently stroked his red hair.   

To be cont. 

(A/N:  Um…I hope that was interesting.  The Makoto Harada character was mentioned back in chapter 3.  She's someone else that was on the girl's tennis team. Not that important to know, but will appear in the next one.  Sorry if Eiji seemed OOC near the end.  Eiji doesn't seem like the type to cry, but since he's good friend with Oishi that I'm sure he'd be willing to express more feelings towards him.  I guess one reason why I like Oishi's character is that he can get mad (hence the reason why I enjoyed episode 52).  I mean…that's human nature.  If you have any comments or whatever, please give a review or email me.  I still feel I'm a new writer so I strive to improve any way I can.  Thanks once again for reading.)

Preview:  Protecting one friend could mean losing another.  


End file.
